Heir Expectant
by WolfKeeper989
Summary: This is a sequel for Heir Apparent by Vivian Velde. Nigel creates a sequel game to Heir Apparent but he needs a second player to help him play it. And his first choice candidate is Giannine. Then things become crazy when Nigel's physcotic brother returns.
1. Level 1 Facing Fears

Heir Expectant 

T-Misc. Books- Action/Adv/Romance

Giannine Bellisario and Nigel Rasmussem are back for the would-be sequel to Heir Apparent. When Nigel creates a sequel to the game that Giannine almost died in, he asks Giannine to play because it was made for two people to play instead of one. So, now they embark on a new journey as Queen Janine de St. Jehan and Prince Kenric.

**Heir Expectant **

**Level 1**

**Facing Fears**

Giannine Bellisario was riding the automated bus once more. She was lost in thought as her mind drifted back to that fateful day last year when she had taken the same bus to the Rasmussem Gaming Center. It was there that she nearly died in one of their Total Immersion Games after some crazed CPOC, Citizens to Protect Our Children; members rushed in and destroyed some of the equipment, leaving her stuck inside a game fighting for her life.

"Ms. Bellisario, your stop will be reached in about thirty seconds, please prepare to stop." said the automated computer. "Would you still like to stop here?" Giannine looked out the window at the street to see it was clear of picketers and sighed,

"Yes." The bus doors opened and she made her way to the front to get off. The computer chirped a pleasant goodbye as she exited and found herself once again outside the Rasmussen Gaming Center but only because the owner and her friend Nigel Rasmussem asked her to. She took a deep breath and walked into the building. The movie theatre looking lobby hadn't changed. There was still the same concession stand with an employee working diligently behind it. The same metaphorical receptionist was sitting behind her desk with the same annoying and mean desktop dragon. The receptionist looked up at her and went wide-eyed.

"Ms. Bellisario! How lovely to see you again! Are you doing well?" She asked with a smile. To Giannine she sounded genuinely pleased and happy to see her.

"I'm fine." She replied honestly. "Do you know where Nigel is?" Giannine and Nigel had gotten to know each other as email buddies and friends after the CPOC incident. So, they called each other by name rather then formal last names. The receptionist smiled and pointed to the concession stand. She could have slapped herself. Nigel's parents allowed him to work at the Gaming Center on weekends and after-school to keep him close to his gaming empire in case something should happen. The Rochester Center was the World Headquarters, how convenient. She walked over to the concession stand and leaned against the counter and began drumming her fingers on it.

"What can I do for you?" asked Nigel without turning around. Stifling a giggle she replied,

"I should be asking you that Prince Kenric after all you are the one who summoned me to this strange counsel." He instantly whirled around to face me. He flashed one of his gorgeous smiles before exclaiming,

"Queen Janine! Thank you for returning here on such short notice but there is a matter that I just simply must share with you!" He came and wrapped his strong but gentle arms around her in a tight hug. "Well we mustn't keep them waiting." Who? What was Nigel so excited about? Time would only tell, that is if Nigel didn't tell her first. He led her over to one of the many game promo computers and typed something in. A file appeared that was named "coming attractions". He clicked on it. A promo poster appeared. It showed an army being led by five people. Three of them Giannine recognized as the queen's son's Wulfgar, Abas, and Kenric in order starting from the left. The fourth was a shadow, probably indicating a player. But in the middle of the four to the right of Kenric and the left of the supposed player stood herself as Queen Janine. She gasped with shock. The title was "Heir Expectant". Nigel's voice woke her from her daze,

"This as you can probably guess is the sequel to "Heir Apparent". This one picks up right where your game ended. I liked the way you played the game so much that I left Janine as a character." Nigel explained, "Now, you can play as any of the characters besides the Queen or her half brothers and follow a different path. That's what the shadow represents, the other characters." Nigel explained.

"Cool, it sounds like fun. I'm flattered about you basing a character off of me." She said honestly while trying to hide a blush.

"I just finished buffing it. I'm going to close up the center early today so that I could test it out. Well the newer feature." said Nigel as he powered down the computer. He then began to steer her back towards the concession stand. But she didn't really understand why she was here. Well as her grandmother always said, "Answers come to those who ask."

"That's all good but why am _I _here?"

"Well, this game can be played by 1 to 3 people at time. That means more problems, riddles, puzzles, paths, and many, many more decisions." said Nigel.

Nigel gave her a reassuring smile as he led her through a door behind the concession stand.

"To experience the newer features you have to play with 2 or more people the first time." Nigel explained.

"Which is?" asked Giannine.

"If you play alone you just play through the game like in the first one. But with two or more people you can live in it, in weekly increments or hourly sessions. The machine is able to space out the data so that gamers can play in hourly sessions rather than 30-minute sessions. Now you can stay in the game for a full week instead of three days time. And each one will be different! The characters will have minds of their own within a controlled aptitude. The characters will have their own minds, emotions, lives, and reactions to things within a certain limit. The player's emotions become the character's emotions well they blend." Nigel explained, "I've played the game a dozen times but I want _live_ it!"

"So, you need me to play with you," said Giannine. They had been walking through some hallways and were now standing in front of a total immersion game room. Nigel reached for the door and opened it and gestured for her to enter. She saw a large immersion couch. Nigel extended his hand to her and she tentatively took it. He gently pulled at her hand begging her to follow. She stepped into the room slowly. A fear began to build in her. What if something happened to them? Or the machines? "Nigel, if we "die" in the game do we die for real?"

"Oh no! There is a space between the game world and the real world I have named Limbo, whenever you have a 30 minute cool down you and the person you're playing with will be transported there for the cool down. You can talk and stuff while you wait. Then if you are killed then you are sent there to wait until the other dies or brings you back. There are ways, "forbidden" ways, to bring people back," explained Nigel. They were now standing in front of the immersion couch. Giannine squeezed Nigel's hand a little harder as her nerves flared up again. He turned to look at her. "Are you scared?"

"A little…"she admitted. He gave her a reassuring smile before saying,

"I'll be right beside you." He gestured to the immersion couch. It was fitted for two people to lie on it at the same time. But she was still scared; she almost died playing the first game. She finally heaved a sigh and sat down. She would have to face her fears. She lied down on the couch. "Well are you coming or not?" she asked looking at Nigel. He smiled and went around to the other side of the couch and lied down. He took her hand and squeezed it as the immersion tech started hooking them up to the machine. Then there was a flash…

"Long live Queen Janine! Long live Queen Janine! Long live Queen Janine! Long live Queen Janine!" At first Giannine was confused by the chanting but then remembered what Nigel had said to her about the game beginning where she left off. She realized that someone was holding her. Was Kenric still holding her? She slowly opened her eyes to see Kenric staring down at her worriedly.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She slowly started to sit up expecting to feel weak or sick but felt nothing.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Prince Kenric for all your help." She said as he helped her to her feet. She started towards her throne. She spared nods and quick hellos to well-wishers. When she reached her throne she turned to face her subjects and proclaimed in a loud voice, "We have dealt with foes in ways that turned them into our friends. We have defeated the dragon and saved our land. Not only that but we stopped the robbery of the royal treasury. So, now I bid you all to eat and be merry in this joyous celebration of my half brother's soon to be marriage and my coronation as your Queen." She then stepped down and joined Kenric and the others at the table. The now queen dowager was fuming at the other end of the table but Giannine didn't care, she was queen now and plus Andreanna was still wearing the magic ring. Kenric cleared his throat to get her attention. She looked at the gray eyed prince.

"I was wondering if I could speak with you as you travel to your bed chamber." Kenric said. Giannine studied his expression. There was no malicious intent but seriousness.

"Of course." She said. But she was hungry and began to chew on the most amazing roasted duck she ever had. The vegetables were awesome. By the time she was through eating and socializing she could barely move. The sun had gone down and the crescent moon and stars shone brightly. "Prince Kenric do you mind helping me to my bedchamber?"

"Of course." He slowly stood up and took her by the arm and gently placed his hand around her waist and began to lead her from the room. As they walked out of the dinning hall Prince Kenric turned to the now Queen asking, "How do you like here so far?"

"It is pleasant enough." replied Giannine. She was getting sleepy and not really in the mood for conversation although the thought of conversing privately with Prince Kenric was quite alluring, sleep was overriding that last notion.

"I mean do _you _like, Giannine?" he asked. Giannine stared at the prince for a moment before realizing that it was Nigel in the Prince's body! She smiled.

"I _love _it!" They paused in front of the door to her bedroom. She turned to him and pecked him on the cheek before saying goodnight and entering her room. Kenric stood there, stunned. He was fighting a powerful surge of emotions that caused his head to swim. Who knew Kenric had such an attraction to the lovely Janine and combined his own attraction to gentle Giannine he was in for a long week. But he finally cleared hid head and continued on to his chamber…

Giannine rose bright and early the next morning to prepare for the ride back to St. Jehan to visit her foster parents. But nothing prepared her for what would happen when she got there…


	2. Level 2 Say What?

Hi! I am glad that a lot of people are interested in this story! SO here is some more…

Disclaimer: All of the characters and storyline mentioned belongs to Vivian Vande Velde but the story idea is mine!

**Level**** 2**

**Say What?**

Janine rushed about her room trying to find her riding clothes. She finally fished them out of her closet, dressed, and rushed out of the room. She bumped into Kenric in her rush.

"Oh, I am so sorry Ni- Prince Kenric! I guess was in such a hurry that I did not pay attention to wear I was walking." said Jeanine with a laugh. She offered a smile as she joined him in the hallway.

"I was hoping to accompany you on your visit to your foster parents." said Kenric. Jeanie nodded. She headed towards the stables with Kenric following a few paces behind her. Jeanie blinked and shielded her eyes with her hand from the harsh sunlight. Then she watched the attendants saddle the horses and mounted the white horse that she knew was hers. She walked her horse to where Kenric was mounting a black horse. Once both riders were mounted, they started off towards Jeanie's old village. The hills rolled gently along the horizon before them as the pair trotted along the beaten path through the earthen mounds. The sky was a deep blue and not a cloud was in sight. The two chatted pleasantly as they rode. The dust road was a winding ribbon before them. About thirty minutes later, they reached her old village of St. Jehan.

"So, what made you decide to come with me?" she asked. Kenric looked at her and smiled.

"It was either this or listening to my mother rant about Grimbold's odor all day." He said truthfully. "Although… I don't blame her!" Janine snorted with laughter. Kenric chuckled a little at his own joke. "So, what did you do out here?" he asked.

"Watched the sheep with Dusty." She answered with a shrug.

"Guess you did not have any trouble sleeping." Kenric commented. Janine laughed once more. "Who knew that Kenric had a sense of humor?" She thought. "No, wait a minute; I forgot that this isn't just Kenric but Nigel in Kenric's body… if only we weren't related in this game. Then maybe we could be a little more than friends unlike the outside world. But one can only dream."

"No, I didn't but Dusty was a good enough alarm clock." She said. Giannine was deeply troubled. She liked Nigel a lot. He was smart, compassionate, funny, rich, and cute. He was no prince but that was pretty close. But he was one of her few friends and one of her best friends, there were only two. She did not want to ruin their friendship by being too forward. Maybe she would ask him to the dance. The first dance of her freshman year in high school was coming up and she really wanted him to go. Surely, he was no hermit but when it came to a large crowd of people, he was a bit shy.

"Janine? Janine." She snapped back to reality when she heard name being called. "Which way do we go?"

"Ummm…" she started. They were standing at a fork in the road. She dug into the "false" memories she had gained from her previous game and said,

"That way." Then she pointed to the left fork. Kenric nodded and steered the horse in that direction. Janine followed. To get her mind off of her brooding thoughts, she began to chat with Nigel again. "So exactly how have you changed the game play this time?"

"Well… Like I said the emotions of the players become fused with those of the characters. But the characters emotions are clusters of code that might reflect a certain range of emotions for that character as it was intended to be. Then the computer selects the closest group to the player's real emotions. Then depending on the choices that player makes, the story will be pieced together from the smaller storylines submitted by our customers as they play. Some may be pleasant others may not. Other storylines will have a definite ending, others may not." He said with a shrug.

"So, what kind of storylines are we talking about?" Giannine asked dreading the worst. Nigel half shrugged this time.

"The kingdom might be attacked by another kingdom, a famine might strike, someone could turn against you, or someone could put a curse on you. There thousands that I don't even know of that my designers in training came up with. So, that is why I called you in. You were the only person I could think of that would be able to think quickly enough on their feet and under pressure. Plus your creativity within the game realm has yet to be matched." He said with pure admiration in his voice.

"Th-thank you." said Giannine ducking her head modestly as she blushed from his praise. They both were silent as they rode up to the farm house. Her dog, Dusty, came to meet them barking happily as the came into the yard. Janine dismounted her horse and petted the shaggy dog. She guided her horse up to the house with Kenric following behind. Her former parents greeted her with open arms.

"Janine we are so glad to see that things went so well for you. But you must come inside because there is something that we needed to tell you." said her mother her lively voice becoming grave. She looked back at Kenric who was slowly dismounting. Dexter moved to take the reins from her and Kenric.

"I will take these to the stables while you two royals make yourselves comfortable." said Dexter as he led the two horses away. Kenric and Janine followed her mother into the small cabin that was their home. The place was homely as it always was in appearance but it was clean and felt warm. There was a small fire going in the fireplace. A hearty stew was bubbling away underneath the dancing flames. Janine sighed dreamily. "I would love to in a small cabin like this tucked away in a little cove in the Catskill Mountains… wouldn't that be nice?" Giannine wasn't a nature nut, so to speak, but she loved the peace and serenity she enjoyed in nature and away from the noises of the city.

"I am sorry I have no better seats to offer you than these hard chairs but it is all I have you see." said the foster mother as she gestured for them to sit. Janine sat down in a chair next to Kenric. Her foster mother looked like a bundle nerves that were about to come undone. She paced for a moment or two then stopped, looked at them, and then started to wring her hands. "This one acts as if she has something to hide… or something to tell." thought Nigel to himself. Janine noticed it too. Finally the woman dropped her hands and took a deep breath. "There was a scandal when the queen found out about the illegitimate heir. And well… she, under the king's nose, sought out the woman and the baby and killed them. She was staying here at this farm that was true but when she was done in, we were in town trading the wool, you see." She said it like she was trying to plead her innocence to a judge. "Then my water broke while we were in town… We were delayed in getting back. By the time we got here they had been dead a long time." She finished in an almost sob. A grating fear began to grow in Janine's stomach.

"So, what does this mean?" asked Kenric. The woman grew very pale but pressed on and said in a soft voice,

"That Janine is _really _my daughter but I said that she was heir apparent because I felt beholden to make it up to the king so I produced Janine as the heir apparent."

"WHAT?!!!" cried Kenric practically jumping out his chair to stare down the woman. Janine's mother broke and crumpled to her hands and knees.

"Please, you can punish me as you see fit but please don't hurt Janine; none of this is her fault." She sobbed. Janine had been quiet the entire time. She sat frozen in shock. The shock of how Kenric was treating her mother and the fact that she was not the true heir to the throne. As the numbness of the shock wore off her mind began spouting off questions and concerns that she could not voice at the moment. She was still mute from the shock. Then one single thing rang through her head: What would the Queen do to her if she found out? That was enough to frighten her into another shock. Kenric had recovered from his outburst and was apologizing to her mother as he helped her to stand back up. He turned to stare at Janine. He instantly frowned in concern. He said something to her but she could not hear him. It was as if someone had hit the mute button on a remote control. Then Kenric rushed towards her as a strange sensation of falling washed over her. Then everything grew dark…

Kenric cradled Janine in his arms as her mother fretted nearby. The shock must have been too much for Giannine and she had fainted. Kenric slowly stood so he would not drop Janine.

"Please, protect my daughter. The Queen would do anything to her, just to get her throne back." begged Janine's mother.

"I promise… I will do my best to protect to her." promised Kenric.

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Janine slowly began to arouse from her sleep. When her eyes fluttered open all she saw was the stars above her. She slowly sat up to find that she was covered with Kenric's cape near a fire. Kenric himself was sitting next to the fire beside her. She yawned and asked timidly,

"What happened?"

"You fainted; I carried on you my horse, tied your horse's lead to mine, and started back towards the castle but stopped after sundown." He answered. Then as she mentally reviewed what had happened. Then her fear returned with a vengeance. Finally she managed to find her voice and tentatively asked,

"Are you going to abandon me?" Kenric looked at her with understanding eyes and reached out to stroke her face.

"Giannine, you forget that I am not just Kenric but Nigel, too. I am not going to abandon you." He said. She giggled a bit at her own stupidity. She scooted closer to him and wrapped the cape the both of them then settled down to sleep…

When they made it back to the castle they spent the entire time trying to avoid the Queen dowager and trying to figure out how Janine could keep her throne. When they woke up back in the Center, both were frustrated but entertained. As they walked back to Nigel's place to meet her grandmother, they talked about the game. As they rushed up the steps Nigel's father met him at the door.

"Guess who's come home from college?" he said with a half- smile. Nigel looked back at Giannine who just shrugged.

"Who?" Nigel asked dreading the answer. A boy a little older than Nigel with cotton blue highlights and piercings all along his outer ears leaned around his father to stare Nigel down.

"Hey techno- freak!" he jeered. Nigel groaned. Then through gritted teeth he grumbled,

"Hey Dale…"

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That's it! Sorry it took so long! Please read the review I left!


	3. Level 3 Bold Move

HI! I am so glad that you guys are loving this story! Just to let you know it is only going to get better!

Disclaimer: All of the characters and storyline mentioned, except for Dale Rasmussem he is my original character, belongs to Vivian Vande Velde but the story idea is mine!

**Level 3 **

**Bold Move**

Giannine watched Nigel stare at his brother with barely restrained rage and was that… disgust? Giannine had met his parents before, but Giannine did not know that Nigel had a brother. Nigel let out a sigh and continued up the steps past his dad and his brother without another word. Giannine slowly started into the house behind him with a hello to Nigel's father and a polite nod to Dale.

"Hey, techno-freak! Aren't you going to introduce me to your pretty friend?" said Dale with smile. Usually when a guy would say something like that she would blush but this time a dual reaction happened. At first she was flattered but then a deep dirty feeling began to build up in her stomach. She felt used and disgusting when she caught the glint in Dale's eye. Nigel stopped and muttered introductions between the two. Giannine still too upset to speak simply nodded again. Dale smiled another devious smile and started into the dinning room. Giannine gazed fearfully behind her before hurrying to catch up to Nigel in his room. She slipped inside and closed the door quietly behind herself. Nigel was sitting on his bed watching her. Nigel finally noticed her discomfort as she unintentionally hugged herself and quickly moved to comfort her. He hugged her to himself and rubbed her back while he whispered in her ear,

"Don't worry; I won't let Dale touch you… I promise…" She nodded mutely into his chest. She heard Nigel let out an explosive sigh. Nigel was physically shaking with rage. "Why?! Why is he here? Just when my life was going well, he shows up to ruin it." He thought angrily to himself, "Then he's got Giannine scared. I swear… if Dale does anything to hurt Giannine, I'm gonna _kill _him!" he vowed mentally. "Are you alright, now?" he asked.

"Y-Yeah, but your brother scares me." She admitted. He nodded.

"Let's get you home." said Nigel…

The Next Day… 

Giannine was still weirded out about yesterday but that quickly vanished as she neared the Gaming Center. As she steeped through the door to the establishment her worry returned again but for a different reason: what could they do to keep Queen Janine from losing her throne? But she did not have time to dwell on this for Nigel was waiting for her in the back of the Center. She rushed by the desk attendant with a smile and a wave before heading back to the testing lab. When she got there, Nigel had everything set up for them to play. Both teens lay down on the immersion couch and Nigel nodded to the attendant who flipped the switch. Instantly, Giannine felt the familiar tug in the pit of her stomach and then there was a flash of light. Now Giannine was floating in Limbo along with Nigel.

"So, how are we going to evade your mother today, Prince Kenric?" Giannine asked as Limbo faded away to reveal the castle hallway she and Kenric were standing in.

"_We _are not going to evade my mother today, but _you _are." He said simply. Janine blinked confused. Kenric finished by saying,

"I have been requested by mother to pay her a visit today." The Queen formed a silent 'oh' with her lips and nodded.

"Then I will walk around for a bit and try to think up a plan to help us keep my throne." Said Janine. Kenric nodded and headed off to find his mother. Janine stood in the hall a little while longer before returning to her own room to brainstorm some more. She opened the door to her room to find Abas waiting for her. "What are you doing here, Abas?"

"I need a sparring partner, since Kenric's stuck in a "torture" session with mom and Wulfgar is hanging out with his fiancée, Orielle. So, that leaves you." said Abas simply. Abas, truth be told, was not all brawn and no brain but Janine still did not trust him even though the brothers were starting to warm up to her. Wulfgar was not as cold to her as he used to be; sometimes he even came to her for advice about gifts and surprises for Orielle every now and then. Abas, talks to her every now and again, and her and Kenric are getting along great… since Kenric was Nigel.

"I would love to help… truly I would but I don't know how to use a sword." explained Janine.

"That's even better… I can test my knowledge of sword basics by teaching them to you! A mental and physical workout in one day!" said Abas excitedly. Janine really wasn't feeling quite right about her and Abas being together, alone with… swords… Come on, Janine maybe naïve but she sure wasn't dumb…

"Ok, that's fine but how do I know you won't take me somewhere and kill me…?" asked Janine in an accusing tone.

"Because… I don't want to be king anyway," he sighed.

"I am not convinced…" said Janine flatly. Abas sighed in exasperation.

"It's too much work for me… well boring work anyway. I am not lazy but I am not the most motivated person in the world. All that work you had to do just to get the crown Dad left for you! Please, I would not stand a chance…" grumbled Abas. Janine could not help but think, "At least he's honest…"

"Okay, fine, since I have nothing else better to do…" said Janine. Abas smiled and left her chamber. Janine found her some comfortable clothes and dressed. She walked over to her vanity and pulled her hair up. She then walked into the hallway just in time to bump into Kenric… again…

"Queen Janine, we really must quit running well, bumping into each other like this, someone would think that something more was going on between us." teased Kenric as he tried to regain his balance and help Janine regain hers. Janine giggled at Nigel's joke. Now, both of them were alone in a hallway once more. Janine decided that it was her turn to tease Nigel. She stepped closer to Nigel until if she wanted to look him in the face their noses would touch. Then she looked straight into his gray eyes and just as she went to open her mouth a cunning thought entered her mind… Maybe she could tell Nigel how she felt, or at least give him a hint…

"Well," she smirked, "who says that there can't be something more going on between us?" She leaned forward with her heart pounding away in her throat. Her lips brushed his and he gasped in surprise. She became a little bolder and kissed him. Gently, just enough to tease him before pulling away with a triumphant smile on her face. She could not help but giggle at the look on Kenric's face which was a cross between shock, utter disbelief, and absolute euphoria. Her giggling must have awoken him from his daze because then he glared at her before saying,

"That _was _not funny." This made Janine laugh even harder. She struggled to contain her laughter. When she got fairly under control she gasped out,

"You're right, that was not _funny_,_ it_ was _hilarious_! Oh, but do not glower so, Prince Kenric, I owed you for all the prior teasing you have been doing to me." Then she smiled again as his gaze softened a bit. Then she scrunched up her face and mustered up the best Adrianna voice she could and said, "Plus, it is very unbecoming of a _gentle_man," Kenric tried to keep a neutral face but he could not and burst out laughing.

"Ok, ok, I admit I deserved that but what was that kiss about?" asked Kenric. Janine gave the prince a smarmy grin before turning tail and running away.

"Catch me first!" she yelled behind herself.

"Giannine!" he yelled. "I am not- oh, forget it!" cried Kenric before chasing after the giggling Queen. They careened through hall after hall. Narrowly avoiding 2 servants, a maid, and the Queen Dowager in their game of cat and mouse. Then finally Kenric closed the distance between himself and the fleet of foot Queen. Kenric caught her by the wrist and spun her around to face him, unintentionally pulling her right up against his body. He looked down to see curious gray eyes staring into his. But, he could not speak. He was too entranced by the way her body was seemingly made to fit against his. He shook his head to clear his lovesick mind and managed to ask,

"Well, what was it about?" She gave the teasing grin of hers again before saying,

"Go to the Freshmen Dance with me, and I will tell you."

"Wha--? Is this what this entire little game was about?"

"No, not originally but it fits none the less…" she said mysteriously. She had him dead to rights, he was already frustrated from having to chase her and his head was still spinning from that kiss. Although he hated crowds, it would just be a few freshmen and their dates… plus, it seemed that Giannine really wanted him to go.

"Oh alright, I'll go… NOW, WHAT WAS WITH YOU AND THAT KISS?" She grinned again before nonchalantly replying,

"It might possibly be that I like you as more than just a friend, Nigel…" She then pecked him on the cheek and left Kenric standing in the middle of the foyer completely confused as she went off to find Abas…

**2 years later (in the real world)…**

After Giannine's bold little joke in the game realm to two years ago, her and Nigel had slowly grown closer and closer to each other. They had been going out for a year and half. Giannine had not regretted that day since even when Nigel and she had their little lovers' quarrels. Giannine was now sixteen and working at hospice, although Nigel did not know that yet. Many people would think that working in a place like that was not rewarding enough. But for Giannine, it was rewarding. She found courage in those people who continued to fight to live even though they knew their time was up. And all these people had the most amazing stories to tell. One of the patients she was in charge of served in World War II as a fighter pilot. Another was a 20 year old woman who was diagnosised with terminal ovarian cancer. She used to be a stage actor. All these people she came in contact with, she kept tabs on in a scrapbook she worked on everyday that she had spare time at work. She found that it gave her peace when they passed on because she had plenty of stories and pictures to remember them by. On this particular day, she, after much begging from Nigel, was taking him with her to Passing Acres, the hospice she worked at.

"So, are you ever going to tell me where you work?" asked Nigel as they walked the short distance from the bus stop to the hospice. Giannine heaved a sigh before asking her own question,

"Do you promise not to put down my work or hassle me about it?"

"Yes, Giannine, I promise." He said looking down at her with sincere eyes. Giannine took a deep breath.

"I work at a hospice called, Passing Acres." She confessed. She was beginning to worry after three minutes of silence, "You're not mad at me are you?"

"No, I am just really surprised. You seem like a person who is vivacious and thrives on life. I never imagined that the job you loved so much, involved taking care of people who are dying. Doesn't that make you sad at all?" asked Nigel worriedly.

"Well, yes it does but this book helps dull some of it." She said lifting the book she was carrying to emphasize her point. He nodded, "It contains their life stories and pictures. So, I still have something of theirs to hold on to. Plus, I love listening to their stories and they are the most grateful and wonderful people you will ever meet. They are never in a rush and they are easily pleased. I love being the one who can make their last days their best." She admitted.

"Wow… and I thought you could not be anymore amazing to me, and you prove me wrong once again, Giannine." said Nigel gazing at Giannine with that fond gaze that made Giannine's heart sing. She leaned in to kiss him deeply as an unknown person watched with hatred-filled eyes a few meters away.

"So, this is what makes you smile, techno-freak… then I must destroy it…" whispered Dale maliciously…

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Well, that is it! Please review and I will write!!!


	4. Level 4 An Ale Old Mistake

Hi! Thanks for all the support I have obtained for this story. I love you guys so much!!!! Well I promised more and you shall have more!!!

Disclaimer: All of the characters and storyline mentioned, except for Dale Rasmussem, Nigel's parents, Dr. McKinsey Scott, Janice Thompson, and George these are my original characters, belongs to Vivian Vande Velde but the story idea is mine!

**Level 4**

**An "Ale" Old Mistake**

Giannine, sadly, had to end the kiss or else she was going to be late for work. The kiss left both of them panting but satisfied. Giannine took Nigel by the hand and led him to Passing Acres. The couple quietly entered the hospice's employee break room through the back door. Giannine walked over to a nearby wall of lockers, located the third one closest to the door, opened it, and started putting her things away. Nigel walked over to where Giannine was standing and saw that she had decorated her locker with pictures of the couple on various dates. He smiled as he looked at one of the pictures. It was at Giannine's surprise birthday party a few months ago. He remembered the look on her face when all of her friends had jumped out to surprise her as well as that thank you kiss after the party…

"Nigel?" Nigel snapped out of his daydreaming at the sound of his name being called. Giannine was staring at him with a small smile on her face. "Come on, and meet the rest of the guys!"

"Guys?" parroted Nigel. Giannine nodded, "Just who are these _guys_?"

"These "guys" are my favorite co-workers and patients." She explained. She looked over at a nearby clock and gasped, "Come on, George and Mackie might be here already! Let's go see them first!" She then grabbed the semi-xenophobic Nigel by the arm and dragged him through the hospice. They turned a corner and entered a hallway lined with offices. Giannine stopped at a particular door with a nameplate on it that read: _Dr. McKinsey Scott_. Giannine knocked on it.

"Come in," came a heavily accented voice. Giannine slowly pushed the door open to reveal a black woman sitting at a desk. Her hair was braided and pulled back from her lovely face in a ponytail. McKinsey was one of the first people Giannine met at the hospice. McKinsey was the center's resident OB/GYN. She handled all the patients that were newborns or women that had a reproductive track illness. She was born and raised in Brooklyn then moved to Rochester to take this job. She was witty, pretty, smart, loyal, and not afraid to stand up for what she believed in.

"Hey, Mackie!" said Giannine happily as she walked into the office.

"Hey Giannine! You always manage to get back here at the same time everyday! So, how's life treating my favorite girl?" asked McKinsey by a way of greeting.

"I am fine! I brought a friend to work today." She said. Mackie smiled.

"Let me guess, is your friend that nervous looking young man blocking my doorway?" Nigel blinked. Then he realized that he had just been standing in the doorway, watching. He laughed nervously before he entered the room and shut the door behind him. He walked over to where Giannine had just taken a seat on a wine colored couch and sat down beside her.

"I am sorry about the door." Nigel said as he greeted McKinsey for the first time.

"Forget about it! I was just teasing you." Mackie reassured him. "So, this is the famous "Nigel", I have heard so much about. There is not a day that I don't hear, 'Nigel this' and 'Nigel that', Giannine is truly crazy about you!" Nigel blushed. Giannine talked about him all the time? That realization made him smile. She really did love him, then. Giannine, too, was blushing as she whined,

"Mackie, stop it!" The older lady laughed a melodious laugh before she said,

"All right, all right! I'll drop the subject… for now…" but before Giannine could even open her mouth to reply, Mackie cut her off, saying,

"I am just teasing, Gia (A/N: pronounced gee-a), but go outside for a moment, I want a word with Mr. Man, here. I'll give him back to you in a minute, okay?" Giannine closed her mouth and frowned in confusion but did as McKinsey asked of her and left with a wave to Nigel before closing the door. "Okay, I am going to say two things to you and I want you to take them to heart." She was looking directly at Nigel as she said this. Nigel nodded mutely from his seat. "Wow, this woman has quite a presence, I am slightly afraid of this woman and she is sitting down!" thought Nigel. "First, thank you for making Giannine so happy! But… if you break her heart…" Mackie stood up behind the desk to reveal that she was a _tall _woman with a slight athletic build. She narrowed her eyes before finishing her statement, "I _will _break you, understand?" Nigel nodded paling for a moment. Then McKinsey sat back down behind her desk and turned to her computer. Nigel watched in curiosity as she typed in something. "Do you have any siblings, Mr. Rasmussem?" Nigel was caught off guard by this question.

"Ummm… yes, a half-brother, Dale." said Nigel hesitantly. McKinsey nodded from her seat.

"Let's hope you are not like him…" she commented as she clicked her mouse a couple of times.

"I am _nothing _like my brother, but why did you say that? Have you heard something about him?" asked Nigel as an ugly knot was beginning to build in his stomach.

"According to a friend of mine at Columbia University, sometime at the end of the year before last, he was kicked out of school." She said. Nigel's jaw dropped. "So, he was lying… that low life! He said that the classes were too easy and that he was transferring to MIT but he was staying at home until he could finalize the transfer! I knew it! He was kicked out! What did that sicko do this time?" Nigel thought to himself.

"Did your friend happen to know what he did to get expelled?" asked Nigel.

"According to this email, your brother agreed to leave the school quietly if no charges were brought against him. He allegedly tried to rape two girls and he is also believed to have created a virus that could actually kill a person in virtual reality. This came after a kid he was known to have a beef with turned up dead in an immersion chamber on school grounds. The kid had been doing a test run on a test game he had designed to present to your company for a school assignment. The last program that the kid ran before he died, was a western deal, you know, the sunset gunfight sort of thing. Well, the kid must've have gotten nailed in the game. But the game's design should have prevented the gunshot wound from killing the kid. But when the ME opened the kid up, they found that the kid had had an aortic aneurysm that had ruptured. That resulted in the boy's death but the mystery was that there was a circular bruise right in the center of his left breast and a broken rib in the same place but they could not find any hand held weapon or any weapon for that matter that could have made those types of wounds except… a bullet… but the skin was not even broken." Said Mackie. Nigel broke into a cold sweat and he was starting to shake…the Hydra… it cannot be possible that Dale actually created a hydra… no… it could not be…

"Dr. McKinsey… are you sure that is what the report said?" Nigel asked his voice barely above a whisper. She looked at him and nodded.

"Thank you for telling me… this could be a huge problem that I need to prepare for." Said Nigel as he got up to leave.

"Why? You don't actually think that there is a virus that can kill people in a virtual reality game do you?" asked the woman her disbelief evident.

"Yes, Doctor, there is a "fabled" virus; most skilled programmers call it the "Hydra". They named it after the mythological creature with 100 or more heads because it represented the many ways a person could die in a game. But this virus is not an _actual_ virus. Actually, it is a mental stimuli response. The reason you cannot feel pain in an immersion game is because the machine sends specific impulses to the brain that prevents the brain from activating the pain receptors. But the Hydra effect happens when someone has uploaded a _regular_ virus that disrupts those impulses that block pain. Now the brain is free to interpret everything that happens to the person inside the game, as reality and the body will react accordingly. This list of responses includes any kind of pain and death. The brain is tricked into killing the body… like how optical illusions trick your eyes into seeing something that is not there. That's why those injuries to the boy's chest resembled those of a gunshot wound. The bruise was probably caused by brain-initiated pressure along with the broken rib and the aneurysm was probably caused by the stress of the simulation." explained Nigel. "If Dale has created this monster we are all doomed… he could transmit this code to cell phones, other computers, and through various electrical devices, not to mention my games…" Mackie had gone pale from Nigel's clarification.

"Well, is there a way to stop it?" asked the doctor. Nigel nodded.

"Yeah, just destroy the main virus or the creature's heart and the Hydra dies. But the hard part is locating the "heart"." sighed Nigel. "But I do not think that Dale will strike again so soon. Not with that incident still looming on some people's minds, he maybe psychotic but he is not stupid…" McKinsey nodded. Nigel nodded back and left the room. Giannine instantly noticed the fear in Nigel's eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He shook his head. She frowned, a clear indication that he did not believe him, but dropped the subject. She took him to another part of the hospice; this place was less formal in appearance. The walls were painted a deep blue and there were bookshelves lined with books of all kinds from children's books to non-fiction books for adults. There were tables covered with pretty tablecloths that people were playing cards on. There was a beautiful patio with rocking chairs on it. There were plush couches of all colors in the room. Giannine explained that this was the commons area for the hospice. Many people came here to play games and sit with visitors when they had them. On a dark blue couch sat an old man that looked about 90 or so years old. He still had a full head of snowy white hair. He was wearing a pair of glasses that were thin and box-shaped. He was wearing a jean button down shirt and some khaki pants. Soon as Giannine spotted the old man she smiled. "George!" she called out happily. The old man looked up and smiled,

"There is my ray of sunshine! How are you today?" he asked as she ran forward to hug him. The two embraced and she replied,

"I am fine! I brought my friend Nigel to work today!" Nigel waved to the older gentleman and the old man smiled.

"Yes, I am glad to see that a sweet girl like you has a nice boy to take care of you…" said George. Giannine giggled.

"Where is Janice?" she asked as she looked about. George pondered this a moment then snapped his fingers.

"She's on the patio, reciting "Annabel Lee", again." said George. Giannine sighed and muttered,

"Why does she do that on all the pretty days? Why can't she do it on a day when it would actually fit the mood, like on a rainy day?!" Giannine walked to go get Janice so that she could meet Nigel. Meanwhile, Nigel himself was still in shock over the news of his brother's little escapades in Columbia. But he was pulled from his panic stricken thought when George spoke to him.

"Giannine loves Janice to death but she absolutely hates it when Janice starts reciting those depressing Poe poems. She says they darken an already dark mood." said George with a chuckle. "Janice used to be a stage actress. But when she was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer, she give up on life and her career, so her family put her here after she tried to end her life prematurely. She used to never talk to anyone and was always alone, that is, until Giannine showed up. Ever since they met Janice has been handling her depression a lot better. That what Giannine's spirit does to people, she just goes out of her way to make others feel better." said George. Nigel felt his heart swell with pride for his Giannine, she could be: sweet and sour, gentle and rough, she could be reserved and outspoken, crazy perky and sensible, classy and sassy, and his favorite, just plain out cute but then in her own way just plain sexy. She was an interesting combination of things that always kept him on his toes. That's what made him constantly question their relationship. Giannine was such an interesting person and he was just plain Nigel…

"So, umm… George what did you used to do?" asked Nigel just to make conversation to get his mind off of that self-effacing subject.

"I used to be an airplane pilot and I served as a fighter pilot in World War 2. " said George with pride shinning in his eyes. Now Nigel was beginning to see why Giannine loved this place so much. There were so many fascinating people here. Giannine was a person who thrived on diversity that Nigel knew for a fact! The girl never wore the same outfit twice a month; even her work clothes were never worn more than once during a given month. This thought brought Nigel back to thinking about their relationship. Why did a person who preferred spontaneity to ordinary choose to be with someone as plain as him? Nigel dropped the depressing thought and continued to chat with George about his piloting adventures until Giannine returned with a young woman in tow. Nigel had to blink twice. Those two together could have been passed off as twins. Their eyes were the same bewitching gray and their hair was the same deep auburn. They were the same height and had about the same type of walk. The only difference was that Giannine was smiling and the other woman, who he assumed was Janice, was grimacing.

"Nigel, this is the famous Janice Thompson!" said Giannine as she introduced the two. The girl stared at him for a moment before she grinned at him.

"So, this is the famous Nigel Rasmussem. You have made my little friend here very happy." she said. Nigel smiled back. "This is scary… they even smile alike." He thought to himself. The hospice friends invited Nigel to stay for lunch. He thoroughly enjoyed himself. But then he remembered that he had to go back to the gaming center to scan for that virus.

XXX 

The next day, Giannine woke up bright and early. Today was Saturday and she was going to the Gaming Center to see Nigel and play the game. She jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes before leaving the house. She was really excited because today was Wulfgar's wedding day and she was to be the Maid of Honor! As she walked down the street to the bus stop, she felt as if someone was watching her. She looked behind her but no one was there. She continued walking towards the bus stop, only a bit faster this time. Just as she was about turn the corner, Dale Rasmussem, cut her off scaring half out of her mind.

"Dale! You idiot! You scared me!!" gasped Giannine as she composed herself. Dale just gave a lazy half-smile.

"So, going off to see techno-freak?" he asked as she continued to walk past him towards the bus stop. She grimaced. She hated when Dale talked about his brother like that. No wonder poor Nigel has confidence issues. She knew how to handle this rude remark.

"No, I don't any techno-freaks but if you are looking for some I know there is supposed to be a rave tonight… I bet you could find loads of them there…" she replied. Dale grimaced. So, she knows about my little ecstasy problem, fine then.

"Well then, have you seen my brother?" he asked. Giannine really was not comfortable with Dale still. Even now, those weird smiles of his still gave her goose bumps. She just wanted him to go away.

"No," she replied a bit more tersely this time.

"Oh, okay then… but you know what, I have noticed something…" he said as she reached the bus stop. "Go away, go away…" Giannine moaned in her mind.

"What Dale?" she baited as her patience wore thin.

"He has been spending less time at home and more time at that center of his. Something about fixin' bugs in his machines. Do you know what all that is about?" He asked nonchalantly. Giannine was no fool; Dale's sly little game of 20 questions has constantly been the source of arguments between the couple. So, she was not going to bite this time around. She looked up just in time to see the bus coming up to the stop. She waited until it was pulling to a stop and she was at the door before she answered,

"I don't know…" She then got on the very crowded bus and watched Dale fade away as the bus drove off. The bus was a little more crowded than usual but that did not last long. By the time she was 3 minutes from the Gaming Center she was the only one on the bus. When the bus stopped, Giannine hopped off and literally ran inside. She waved to the receptionist and had to restrain herself from shooting a birdie at the dragon. She jetted to the back of the center to find Nigel in front of a computer screen.

"What are you doing?" asked Giannine. Nigel looked up at her and smiled.

"I am checking for a virus…" he answered simply before leaning over and kissing her on the lips. Giannine giggled afterwards, feeling very buoyant all of a sudden. "If you'll wait for me by the couch, I will be there in a minute." Giannine smiled and walked off. Nigel continued to stare at the code on the screen but after a moment, his eyes strayed to Giannine who was standing near her side of the immersion couch. Her skin was a natural tan color and her auburn hair was streaked with honey blonde streaks. Her aqua halter-top showed her abs and curves off quite nicely. The medium length white layered skirt she wore was the perfect way to show off her lovely hips and her tremendously beautiful legs. Giannine had become an absolutely drop dead gorgeous woman in the last year and a half. "Let's see… stare at a computer screen… play a game with Giannine… stare at a computer… stare at the girl with pretty legs… stare at a computer… stare into the lovely eyes of my girlfriend… fix bugs in a computer… Forget it!" Nigel finally made up his mind and shut down the computer and started the automatic upload sequence for the immersion couch. Then he joined Giannine on the immersion couch and in about 5 seconds he was waking up as Prince Kenric on the day of his oldest brother's wedding…

XXX 

It was an unusually bright day in the kingdom. There were birds singing in the trees outside of Janine's window and the gentle breeze brought in the beautiful scent of flowers from the garden. The young queen rolled over in her queen-sized bed. She then sat up in her bed and gasped. On a dressing dummy was the prettiest dress that Janie had ever seen. It was mostly white with a silk bodice and a layered skirt that hung to the floor. The bottom layers of the skirt were a light pink and a light green. Then it was covered by a semi-transparent white fabric.

"Oh my…" she gasped. She slowly peeled back her covers and slipped from the bed. The dummy aslo had a lia of pink and green flowers around its neck. Then there was a pair of beautiful glass slippers resting on the floor beneath it. On her bereau there was a long vine of pink flowers and a silver tiara with a huge pearl in the center of it. Then there was a pretty hair comb with pearls on its handle. Janine was in shock. "Wow, Wulfgar really went all all out for this wedding…" she thought. As she continued to admire her new dress Lady Bliss came in to help her prepare for the wedding. First, Lady Bliss drew Janine a bath filled with lavendar petals. Then once Janine was washed and dried, Lady Bliss took the vine of the pink flowers and braided it with Janine's hair into a single long braid with the except of the single trendrils of hanging on either side of her head. Then she wrapped the braid around on her head to form a flat bun on the back of her head. She then used the hair comb to hold the style in place. Lastly, Bliss slowly, almost reverently, picked up the tiara and placed it on Janine's head. Janine turned to the mirror on her bereau, intending to just glace at herself. But she ended up bluntly staring at herself in awe. She looked… beautiful and she had not even put on the dress yet! Plus, she felt amazingly beautiful. Janine stepped into her dress with Lady Bliss's help. Then she stepped into her glass slippers as Lady Bliss positioned her lia around her neck. At last, she was ready to go. She walked out of her room and headed out to the palace garden where the wedding was to take place. On her way there, she ran into Kenric and Abas at the front palace entrance.

"Look sharp, Kenric, I think that we're in the presence of a goddess." commented Abas, which caused Kenric to turn and look her. Both Janine's and Kenric's jaws dropped at the same time. Kenric was dressed in a white dress shirt with a silver jacket embroidered with white thread around the edges. He was also wearing white pants and shoes. His dark hair seemed to gleam against the silver and white outfit. His eyes were wide with surprised and filled with an emotion crossed between desire and absolute adoration. Giannine had never seen Nigel look at her like this before but she did not mind, not one bit… Now, if only she could get that kind of a reaction out of him back at home in the real world.

"Thank you for your kind words Abas, both of you gentlemen look handsome this day, especially you Prince Kenric." She replied. Abas's outfit was the same as Kenric except the colors were reversed. Kenric's snapped out of his ravine at the sound of her voice. He smiled at her as he strolled over to her. He took hand and kissed it gallantly. This caused a shiver of excitement to run down her spine. He looked her deep in the eyes as he said,

"Abas, I think you are right. We are indeed in the presence of a _goddess_." Janine had the good grace to blush at that.

"W-W-Well… uh… thank you… I-It is an honor for a plain girl, such as me, to receive such lovely sentiments from royalty." She managed to say despite the fact that it felt like her heart had been pounding away in her throat the whole time.

"No, it is an _honor_ for someone like me to be in the presence of beauty such as yours, Giannine…" he whispered in awe. Giannine had to fight back tears as the weight of what Nigel said sunk in. That is why Giannine loved Nigel, he was genuine… not just trying to impress her… he said what he meant and he meant what he said. That is why all of his compliments made her so happy.

"Let's hurry b-b-before we are late, yes?" she said, hoping that it would take Nigel's focus off her; at least long enough for her to compose herself. Kenric smiled and offered her his arm, which she gladly accepted.

XXX After the weddingXXX 

The Great Dinning Hall was filled with so much merriment that Kenric thought that room would burst with it. All over the room people were talking animatedly, dancing, or eating and drinking. Janine was floating about the from person to person making sure that everyone was having a good time. Kenric turned to his left as he heard someone take a seat beside him. It was Wulfgar. Kenric and Wulfgar shared the closest bond of the three brothers. This was mostly due to the fact that Kenric had spent a great deal of time with Wulfgar. Whenever Wulfgar changed into his wolf form, Kenric sat up at night with him, since no one else would. The oldest brother sat a full mug of ale right in front of King Cynric's youngest son. Kenric eyed the mug quizzically.

"Well, go on… its not like you are twelve years or something! Live a little! With you, its all work and no play!" urged Wulfgar, who really wanted to see his youngest brother loosen up. Kenric was still eyeing the mug wearily.

"I don't know, Wulfgar, I have never drank before," said Kenric, a little worried at what might happen to him if he did drink it.

"It's one cup Kenric! It is not going to hurt you. I promise…" said Wulfgar. Kenric was still skeptical but sighed and reached for the mug's handle.

"All right, I'll drink but if I end up doing something stupid, it is your fault." Kenric brought the mug up to his lips and took a sip. It burned in his mouth and all the way down his throat. This made Kenric make a face that caused Wulfgar to chuckle. But afterwards, it left a rather pleasant, warm feeling in his stomach. But he did not feel any different. Wulfgar smiled.

"See, nothing… You're fine…" said his brother. Kenric stuck his tongue out at Wulfgar as a rebuttal. Wulfgar laughed again. In the meantime, Kenric's eyes had wandered back to Janine. She noticed this and waved to him. Kenric grinned and waved back as he took another sip. He grimaced again as the drink burned its way down his throat again. Then after a few minutes he started to feel very light-headed.

"Umm… Wulfgar… is this stuff supposed to burn like this?" asked Kenric as he laid his head down on the table for a moment.

"Burn? I thought you were making that face because of the taste. No, it is not _supposed _to burn… Kenric? Are you okay?" asked Wulfgar in concern. Kenric lifted his head again and Wulfgar gasped. Kenric's face was flushed and he was starting to sweat. Kenric swallowed hard. Man, why was it so hot… He was breathing a little hard.

"Wulfgar, I am going to go outside to get some air." He breathed. He tried to stand up but he could barely manage to for the tremors that were running rampant through his body. When he finally made it to his feet, the room was starting to spin and he could barely breathe. But he started to stumble towards the front door, anyway.

"Wait, Kenric, I think someone put something in your drink… wait here, and let me go get Orielle." said Wulfgar worriedly. Kenric shook his head.

"I need air…now!" he gasped as he made dash for the front door. Wulfgar dashed after Kenric while calling Orielle at the same time. Orielle heard the commotion and chased after her new husband. Janine who had been near the door looked up in time to see a strange sight headed her way. Kenric looked about half drunk and sick, he was being chased after by Wulfgar and Orielle. "Wha-?" she thought.

"Janine, stop him! Someone put something in his drink! He's sick!" shouted Wulfgar as Kenric ran past her and out the door. Janine did not need to be told twice! She rushed out the door after the sick prince. She almost fell as her shoes became caught the threshold of the old drawbridge. "Curse these slippers!" she thought as she regained her balance and continued running. She could see Kenric crouched over and clutching his throat.

Nigel had begun to panic. His head was pounding and it felt like his throat was closing up. He was gasping for air but not much seemed to be getting into his lungs. A sharp pain ripped through his stomach. Then Nigel's eyes grew wide… Pain… pain… he could feel pain. Oh no, he did it… Dale put the virus into the game… could Dale have poisoned his drink, too? But Dale is not in this game… is he? He groaned as the pounding in his head continued to grow. He began to waver on his feet. He could not breathe at all. Nigel opened his mouth to scream for help, but he could not even make a sound. He was losing consciousness fast. He stumbled near the edge of the bridge and felt consciousness leave him. He felt himself falling forward as the world around him dimmed to total darkness. The last thought that went through Nigel's mind was, "I am going to die in this game…"

"Nigel!" she screamed. She watched in horror as Nigel fell forward off the bridge and splashed into the water. Janine had reached the spot where Nigel had been just a moment ago before he fell into the water. Giannine mentally panicked as she debated what to do. "I can't swim in these clothes! Well then, thank the Lord I am not _that _modest!" she thought as she reached behind her head and undid the ribbon bow that was holding her dress on. She then pulled the dress off and stepped out of her slippers. Man it was cold. She then dove off of the bridge completely naked. She splashed into the water. She resisted the urge to scream as she hit the cold water. She looked around for Nigel and was about to freak out before she saw a flash of silver out of her peripheral vision. She turned. There he was! She swam towards him and wrapped her arms around his middle and pulled him towards the surface. Giannine's muscles and lungs burned as she headed for the surface. "Almost there…" she thought. Then her head burst through the water and she gasped for air.

Orielle and Wulfgar reached down and pulled the unconscious Nigel from the water as Giannine pulled herself back unto the bridge. They laid him on his back as the still nude Giannine crawled over to him. He wasn't breathing! Giannine immediately leaned down and started to breathe for him. Then she ripped open his shirt and started doing chest compressions. She then breathed for him again and started the chest compressions again. That time it worked. Nigel coughed up the water and drew in a shaky breath. "Oh boy, that was close." thought Giannine. He groaned and opened his eyes. "What? I'm still alive?" he thought as he looked around. His eyes fell on Giannine… she was dripping wet and… completely naked… she must have dove in the water after him. He groaned again as another wave dizziness came over him.

"Giannine, call GRETA and end the game…" he gasped. She frowned in confusion. "Just yell "Greta" and tell her to end the game! I don't have that much time left!" he gasped again. Giannine was clearly confused but did as she was told.

"GRETA!" she yelled. All of a sudden there was a huge flash of bright light.

"Gamer Response Emergency and Technical Assistant activated." responded a feminine, mechanical voice. Giannine was surprised.

"GRETA… end program, now…" Nigel gasped before he fell unconscious again.

"Command confirmed… terminating program…" said Greta. There was another flash of light and then Giannine was waking up in the Gaming Center. She usually felt fine after playing a game but right then she felt tired and sore like she had been doing a lot of work. She continued to lay the couch for a moment to catch her breath and rest. Then she heard a voice say,

"Mr. Rasmussem, Mr. Rasmussem! Wake up! Nigel can you here me?" called the EMT that constantly monitors the game. Giannine turned over and cried out. Nigel was not moving and his face was ashen. "No, Nigel… no, no, no…" she moaned mentally.

"What is wrong with him? Why isn't he moving!" she practically sobbed. The woman looked up from performing CPR on Nigel to ask her,

"What was the last thing that happened in the game, Giannine?"

"Ummm… I had to pull Nigel out of the moat after he collapsed and fell off of the bridge. Because someone poisoned whatever it was that he was drinking." She murmured as tears streamed down her face.

"His heart rate is dropping…" said EMT as she hurried to the speaker on the wall. She pressed the 'Talk' button, "I need an ambulance, now!" She rushed back over to Nigel's side just as Giannine reached for Nigel's hand. She rolled over so that she was on her stomach. She grasped his hand in both of hers and sobbed,

"Nigel! Don't leave me like this, please! Hold on! Hold on!"…

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That is all for me folks! Plz review this time! I need to know that people are reading this story so that I can write more! See ya later!

WK989


	5. Level 5 An Unintentional Solution

Wow… it has been a minute since I worked on this. I am glad you guys like it! Just a small note, there will be a few _short _time skips in this chapter because it would take forever to get to the main plot if I dragged certain meaningless parts out. Well here's more… After chapter 5 or so I won't skip so much time… if it can be helped.

Disclaimer: All of the characters and storyline mentioned, except for Dale Rasmussem, Nigel's parents, Dr. McKinsey Scott, Janice Thompson, and George these are my original characters, belong to Vivian Vande Velde but the story idea is mine!

**Level**** 5**

**An Unintentional Solution**

Giannine rolled over in her bed. Anyone could have plainly seen that the girl had been crying. Her hair was everywhere and her eyes were red and swollen. She had been crying since the incident yesterday. Giannine had never been so afraid since that day she thought that she was going to die in the first Heir Apparent. She had to watch as Nigel's condition only continued to get worse as the EMT and she waited for the ambulance to arrive. After about five long and tense minutes, the ambulance arrived and whisked Nigel to the nearest hospital with a shaken Giannine by his side. The doctor had assured her that Nigel would make a full recovery once whatever happened to him had run its course and he was off life support. But Giannine was still afraid… people weren't supposed to feel in the game but Nigel became ill. Why? What was going on? Giannine hopped out of the bed and unenthusiastically showered and dressed before heading out of her Grandma's apartment. She hopped onto the bus and rode it to the hospital. She walked into the bland colored building and asked the nearest nurse how to get to Nigel's room. After getting directions from the nurse, Giannine made her way up to Nigel's room. Her heart rate increased slightly as she stopped in front of his room door. All kinds of thoughts ran through her head like: "What is his condition like? Has he lost weight? Is he thin and fragile looking still?" For all she knew, he could be in a coma. But she knew was just being silly, the boy had only been in the hospital for a day! So she swallowed back her apprehension and knocked on the door.

"Come in…" called Nigel on the other side of the door. She practically started to beam as she recognized his normal tone of voice, which meant he must have been feeling better and off of the life support. She pushed open door and stuck her head around the door with her eyes squeezed shut,

"Is it safe to enter your chambers Prince Kenric? Are you… _decent_?" she asked in the most coquettish voice she could muster. Nigel had to laugh; this girl never knew when to be serious.

"No, unless you wish for me to be…" he replied brazenly, playing off of her joke. She gasped and said in exaggerated embarrassment while nodding her head vigorously,

"Oh yes! Yes, you must be… for I am a lady and gentlemen must be decent when with ladies…" Nigel's eyes gleamed mischievously as his mind conjured up all the decent and _in_decent things he could do to a lady like Giannine but he shut that off quickly before he got himself into trouble.

"Ah yes, this is very true but I am a prince are any rules concerning the likes of me?" he asked huskily. He smirked as he watched her eyes relaxed, although they were still closed, and her breathing become lighter and faster. A light blush graced her cheeks as she replied,

"No, a prince may do what he pleases but… I always thought that princes were _decent _gentlemen…" She had come around the door and let it close behind her but her eyes were still closed.

"I see, but I can assure you I am no gentleman… why don't you open your eyes and see for yourself." He said as he slowly stood up and walked over to Giannine, being careful not make a sound. She shook her head gently, her buoyant hair shimmering in the light as her head moved back and forth. He liked it when they played these teasing games of wit. They would continue on like this until someone gave in and broke character.

"No, you are not decent!" she said in a hushed voice. He was now standing in front of her with his hands resting against the door. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver,

"Are you sure?" Giannine shook her head in all honesty. She was definitely not sure, mostly due to the fact that her mind was creating mental picture after mental picture of Nigel in his birthday suit. So, she was having a hard time separating fact from fiction.

"Are you decent now?" she asked. He grinned wolfishly before saying,

"I don't know, you tell me…" He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck. She whimpered. He continued to kiss her all over her neck as she allowed her head to fall back against the door exposing her throat to his lips. She sighed softly in pleasure before replying,

"No… you… are… not!" The last word came out as gasp when Nigel's hand went up her shirt to gently caress part of her chest. Neither she nor he spoke anymore after that since Giannine's hands had come up to grasp Nigel's chin and guide his lips up to hers. They were now locked in a heated kiss. Finally, after a moment Giannine pulled away because one, she needed to breathe and two, if they did not stop soon, they would have ended up doing something really _in_decent. Nigel backed up to allow her to have room to breathe. She looked up after a moment to smile at him before saying, "I am glad you are okay. And, why look, you _are _decent!" She giggled as she realized that Nigel was completely dressed. The boy genius just laughed.

"Yes, I am, I was just getting ready to leave when you came "seeking to enter my chambers"." He answered with a smile. Giannine giggled. She turned around and opened the door and exited the room with Nigel right behind her…

After Nigel signed himself out of the hospital, the couple headed to a nearby park to talk. After finding a suitable place to sit down, there was silence. Giannine was not sure where to start. There were so many questions she wanted to ask. Nigel on the other hand was not really up for talking at all, he was too deep in thought. That near-death experience had really caused Nigel to think about things that he would not think about normally. For example, while he was hospitalized he was terribly concerned about what would happen to his company if something misfortunate really did happen to him. He definitely did not want his brother to have it… He loved his parents and knew that they would do whatever he wished for them to do with it but… they knew nothing about running an international company… he realized that he needed an heir or someone to take care of his possessions if Dale got his way and Nigel ended up dead. Another thought that had been going through his mind was the fact that Giannine's 17th birthday was coming up in the next few months and knowing her family's history, he was seriously contemplating asking for her hand in marriage. He had been forced to reevaluate what was important to him… and in doing so; he realized just how important Giannine was to him. Giannine… He had to protect her from Dale as well especially if he did rape those girls because rapists just didn't stop raping people. He gazed up at Giannine who was currently lost in thought. He could see the wheels in the back of her mind slowly turning before she slowly opened her mouth to speak.

"Nigel, what happened in the game?" she finally asked quietly. Nigel sighed. He knew that he would have to tell her soon but he had been hoping that it would not be so soon.

"I was poisoned…" he stated bluntly, hoping the obviousness of his answer would put her off without hurting her feelings. Giannine frowned for a moment before she spoke again,

"I meant, why did you get sick like that? I know that you were poisoned but you looked like you did not feel well… then when we woke up outside, you were pale and barely breathing and then I felt tired and sore like I had been doing a lot of work." She explained thinking that he had misunderstood her question. Giannine was not a computer genius but the girl was not dumb. Nigel could see that very clearly. She knew that the players were not supposed to be able to feel pain or any of the after effects of the game but she could and that bothered her. He knew he had to tell her the truth even though he did not want to, although it was oddly contenting to hear that Giannine was so concerned with his well being.

"There is a problem with the game…" he started quietly. She nodded quietly, urging him on. "Dale placed a virus in it… the virus disrupts the block that prevents the players from feeling anything in the game. Therefore, the players can feel what is going on in the game, including death. The body starts realistically reacting to the stimuli in the game." He looked up into Giannine pensive face, patiently waiting for a response.

"So, in plainest terms, Dale can hurt us in the game… but how? I mean is he a character in the game? If he is, which one? It would be impossible for us to figure out which one!" sighed Giannine exasperatedly.

"You don't have to worry about "us" getting hurt by Dale because "you" are not going back." Nigel said so softly that Giannine almost did not hear him. Her eyes widened in disbelief but her anger and indignation did not simmer for long as she realized that Nigel was just trying to protect her from his brother. She tentatively reached out and took his hand as she said softly but sternly,

"Nigel, I know you are trying to protect me from your brother but pushing me away is not going to help." Nigel looked pointedly at her before replying,

"In the game, until Dale is drawn out into the open you and I are in vulnerable positions. I could not risk anything happening to you in the game." Giannine sighed angrily. Sometimes Nigel was so focused on this _thing_ with his brother that he rarely realized how flawed his reasoning became when events involved his brother. This was one of those times.

"Okay, Nigel, be realistic for once. IF I did stay out of the game, what would keep Dale from trapping your mind in the game and coming after me in the real world? Or even if he did not do that he would still follow me around like he does now. So, technically I would be in just as much danger here in the real world as I would be as Janine in the game world." She said angrily.

"Following you around? What do you mean Dale's been following you around?" sputtered Nigel angrily. Whooops. Giannine's mouth had landed her in another tough spot.

"Well, he has been following me to the bus stops and to my home, bugging me about you." She explained with a shrug. Nigel sighed explosively. Giannine was right, no matter where she went or what she did, Dale would find her if he wanted to. Nigel still worried for her safety, but Giannine was determined to see this thing through with him. He knew he had to tell her what she was up against.

"Giannine, I know you think that this is just a crazy spat between two brothers but there are things about Dale you don't know…" he said quietly.

"Like what?" she asked.

"He raped two girls and killed a guy at his old university that is why he was sent home. The school said if he left the school, they would convince the families not press charges against Dale!" he said in a forceful rush that left him panting slightly. Giannine was stunned. This maniac was what they were up against? She made up her mind right then and there that Nigel was not going to do this alone.

"Then we better get started on trying to figure out who Dale is in the game. Who do you think it is one of your brothers?" she suggested. Nigel looked thoughtful for a moment before he shook his head no.

"I don't think that he would be Abas because Abas sparred with you and you came back in one piece. He wants to hurt me… don't you think that if he were Abas he would have taken care of you then? And then I don't think it was Wulfgar because he seemed too concerned." said Nigel.

"You don't suspect that he could have been faking it?" asked Giannine incredulously, "After all, he gave you the poisoned ale…"

"That is true but someone else had to pour the drink and plus Dale is a sadist. He likes to watch his victims suffer…" muttered Nigel as he eyes took on a haunted look, "Besides, Wulfgar was trying to help me, remember?" Giannine nodded.

"Do you think it was the Queen dowager?"

"It could not have been her either, because my brother is a staunch masculinist. He would not be caught dead in a woman's body. He feels that they are beneath him. No offense." said Nigel. He stifled a small laugh as he watched Giannine's eyebrows and nose scrunch up in thought.

"So that takes out all the other female characters and we have know no clue about the whereabouts of the other male characters… so that leaves…" Giannine's voice trailed off as she continued to think. All of a sudden a thought struck Nigel.

"An OC!" he exclaimed.

"An OC? What is that?" Giannine asked.

"An Original Character. There is a database that was installed in Heir Expectant that a player could use to create a new character at any point that can be played by the gamer or computer." explained Nigel. Giannine nodded.

"That is definitely going to make our lives in the game harder. Speaking of our "lives" we still have not figured out what to do about our non-existent blood relation." Giannine grumbled while Nigel laughed.

"Yes, that still is a pressing problem. But we'll just have to figure that out when we go back into the game, won't we?" he asked as he reached over and gathered Giannine into his arms as the two watched the clouds roll by.

**A couple of hours later…**

Giannine and Nigel were both standing in front of the double immersion couch, staring at it. Both let out a sigh. They looked at each longingly before they took their places. After a moment or two both of them found themselves waking up in their respective rooms on the day of Wulfgar's wedding once more. When the two teens met up again in the game, Nigel explained that since they ended the game before their session was up; their progress did not save so they had to start over. Giannine really did not mind doing so. After a few hours in the game, Giannine grew nervous as the wedding's reception got underway once more. She decided to go check on Nigel as soon as she saw Wulfgar heading over to the table with a mug in his hand. Giannine smoothly intercepted the newlywed man moments before he reached the table.

"Hey Wulfgar, how does it feel to be married?" she asked hoping to distract him for a little bit. The werewolf looked at her strangely but kindly.

"Great, but why did you ask so suddenly?" asked Wulfgar.

"Oh, just because I never got a chance to ask after the wedding." She answered simply.

"Oh,"

"Hey, should you be drinking on this night of all nights? You would not want to be passed out drunk before you get to spend anytime with your new bride." Giannine scolded slightly, pretending to notice the ale for the first time. Wulfgar grinned at her boldness.

"Well, if you must know you little scamp, this is for Kenric, not me." said Wulfgar holding the pint up to emphasize his point. Giannine took this opportunity to seize the mug saying,

"Why look at this! This mug is filthy! This is not fitting for a prince to be drinking out of!" She took the mug and walked off with it saying something about giving lazy servants a piece of her mind. Wulfgar only shook his head at the young queen's antics. He made his way over to the table where Kenric was sitting. Just as he sat down Janine was returning with a fresh mug of ale, which she gave to Wulfgar, then smiled at Kenric before skipping off to take care of her other guests. Wulfgar sat the mug down in front of Kenric.

"Well, go on… its not like you are twelve years old or something! Live a little! With you, its all work and no play!" urged Wulfgar, who really wanted to see his youngest brother loosen up. Kenric eyed the mug wearily.

"I don't know, Wulfgar, I have never drank before," said Kenric, a little worried at what might happen to him if he did drink it, remembering what happened last time.

"It's one cup Kenric! It is not going to hurt you. I promise…" said Wulfgar. Kenric was still skeptical but sighed and reached for the mug's handle.

"All right, I'll drink but if I end up doing something stupid, it is your fault." Kenric brought the mug up to his lips and took a sip. Instead of it burning in his mouth and all the way down his throat like before, it just left a bitter taste in his mouth. This made Kenric make a face that caused Wulfgar to chuckle. But afterwards, it left a rather pleasant, warm feeling in his stomach. But he did not feel any different. Wulfgar smiled.

"See, nothing… You're fine…" said his brother. Kenric stuck his tongue out at Wulfgar as a rebuttal. Wulfgar laughed again. In the meantime, Kenric's eyes had wandered back to Janine. She noticed this and waved to him. Kenric grinned and waved back as he took another sip. Nothing happened and Nigel relaxed. "That Janine is a weird lass…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Kenric clearly not understanding what his brother was talking about.

"The girl took the first mug from me, complaining about the mug being dirty. Although… it looked perfectly clean to me." Wulfgar said. Nigel smiled. "Thank you, Giannine." Nigel thought as he took another swallow.

**A little while later…**

Kenric had finished his first mug and was still _somewhat_ sober… well barely sober… But Wulfgar insisted that he have another. So now Kenric was trying his hardest to hold his hand steady as he started to down the second mug. He got about halfway through it before he had to put it back down. The room was becoming slightly hazy and he was feeling slightly light headed. He allowed his head slump over onto the table.

"Awww… come on, Kenric, you have only had one and a half… you have to build up a tolerance to the ale or else you will never be able to properly stomach the stuff." urged Wulfgar nudging the drunken prince in the shoulder.

"Isedon'twannomo…" mumbled Kenric, his speech muffled and slurred. (Translation: I don't want no more.)

"Let him alone, Wulfgar, can't you see that he is barely sober." said Orielle coming to poor Kenric's defense.

"Yes, I know that but he needs to learn how well he can take ale so that he will keep his limit in mind, so that he will not do anything stupid because he got drunk and no one was there to watch him." explained Wulfgar. But he relented as soon as he saw his wife's face. "If he finishes this mug then I'll leave him alone." Kenric picked his head up off of the table and reached for half drained pint and somehow managed to turn the cup to his face and finish off the rest of the ale. The mug clatter noisily onto the table as it slipped from Kenric's uncoordinated fingers. Wulfgar tried his hardest not to burst out laughing for fear of what his wife would do if he did. Kenric struggled to his feet and managed to stand up without falling over.

"Where are you going Kenric?" asked Orielle.

"To…find…Janine…" he managed to utter before slowly making his way over to where he had last seen Giannine. He later found the young queen slouched across her throne. Three large pints lay empty on the floor in front of it. She looked up as he approached her and he noticed that her eyes probably mimicked his own. They were glazed over and unfocused.

"Hullo… Ni… Nigel!" she managed before bursting into a hilarious fit of laughter. Kenric knew he was drunk but… jeez this girl was out of it.

"You… drank… I mean… drunk… I me-… drunk… you drunk?" he finally managed to utter as he came and plopped down on the floor next to the throne. Janine leaned over the side of the throne to answer Kenric but leaned over too far and ended up tumbling into the drunken Kenric's lap giggling like mad.

"Ni…gel… te he he… me… think… we drunk!" she managed to gasp as she continued to laugh. Nigel could only nod.

"Maybe… we… bed… damn ale…" muttered Nigel frustrated that he could not form even one coherent sentence. "Wanna go… to bed?"

"Yeah, sleepy…" muttered Giannine as her giggling wore down. Giannine managed to climb off of Nigel and he managed to stand up before trying to help up the still floundering Giannine. They both held each other up as they made their way to their bed chambers. Giannine ended up following Kenric to his room because at the moment she could not remember where hers was.

"Why is your room so far a…way?" whined a terribly drunk Giannine. Nigel grumbled something incoherent, which caused Giannine to giggle anew. Nigel turned around to tell her to be quiet but ended up toppling over on top of her. Giannine stared up at Nigel with slightly glazed eyes before she said, "You have beautiful eyes…" In all honesty, he did. Nigel's usually expressive gray eyes looked even more expressive under the dim lighting near his room or maybe it was just the ale. She was betting on the latter. But she really wasn't focused on that anymore, she was focused on his lips. Since when were they so… sexy? Then she started to giggle at her own question. Nigel looked at her quizzically before struggling to his feet and trying help Giannine up. He pulled on her arm to pull her to her feet and she ended up losing her balance and fell forward. Then her lips crashed into his nearly knocking him over again. But Nigel managed to stay on his feet. Nigel absent mindedly started to kiss her back as his unchecked hormones flew to high levels due to the ale inhibiting his judgment. Their kissing got a little rougher as their bodies started to warm up to each other and their ability to rationalize their situation plummeted…

**In the morning…**

Nigel groaned and rolled over in bed. He slowly opened his eyes and instantly regretted doing so as the harsh light poured into his eyes. This caused his already developing headache to increase substantially. Why was his head pounding in the first place? Then he remembered Wulfgar forcing him to drink ale. "I am going to kill him! But not before I get rid of this headache!" thought Nigel as he groaned again. Then he started as he felt someone's grip tighten on his waist. He slowly reached down and felt the arm that was around his waist. It was soft, slender, and smooth. It had a delicate build to it also, much like that of a woman's. Nigel drew in a sharp breath. He slowly began to take in his surroundings hoping to find a clue about what had taken place the night before. He found a clue all right, it was scattered all over the chamber: clothes. They were skewed all about the room in unorganized clusters leading from the door to the bed. He realized that he was in Prince Kenric's room with another female. Oh boy, what would he tell Giannine? Just then he heard the woman sigh,

"Nigel…" Nigel sighed in relief as he realized that this "other woman" was Giannine. Giannine! Oh… no… He had slept with Giannine! Or worse yet, he had deflowered the Queen. He finally rolled over and stared at Giannine. She was sound asleep but she never looked better to him. Her hair was falling across her face. Her face was lightly flushed and her skin looked flawless in the early morning sun. It pained his heart to wake her but he knew she had to leave before half of the castle was looking for her.

"Giannine… Giannine…" he called. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him but then grimaced as the headache started. "I know… I have one, too. But you have to leave." He said softly yet sternly. She looked confused for a moment until the fact of where she was set in. She nodded and went to climb out of bed. She lifted up the covers high enough to give Nigel a glance at her completely nude form. She started to sit up but then her eyes widened as she realized that Nigel and she were completely naked. She gave a small shriek of embarrassment and quickly covered her body with the bed covers before hissing,

"Nigel, what in the _hell_ happened last night?!" Nigel had the good grace to blush a deep shade of pitiful red as he shrugged.

"I-I really cannot say that I remember…" muttered the boy. Giannine's embarrassed scowl began to fade as she noticed that poor Nigel was not faking and had seriously been too drunk to remember. She had no clue what happened the night before but she could probably guess. Nigel and she got drunk and… oh boy… Giannine blushed as the realization of the fact that she was probably no longer a virgin set in. She slowly stood up and gathered her clothes up; figuring after last night there was no reason for her to be modest. She quickly pulled on her bridesmaid gown, turned back to Nigel, and said,

"Just sleep for now, there is no use trying to decipher this mess before we are rid of these God forsaken hangovers…" She blew him a kiss and slowly sauntered out of the room.

**About three weeks later in the game world…**

Giannine was slumped over her throne once again as she absentmindedly watched Nigel practice his magic. He had started teaching her some basic spells that she could use to defend herself with as well as some offensive spells. He did this so that just in case his brother was also a spell caster in the game, Giannine could protect herself. According to Nigel, she had a natural aptitude for magic and he personally took her under his wing as his protégé and was currently instructing the young queen in the arts of the mystic. Giannine had mastered the basics and was now being instructed on how to use "wild" magic, which consisted of elemental magic and magic concerning nature such as form changing and summoning animals. She was at the lowest level, she was learning to control the wind but she was learning quickly. But she was not practicing with her young lover on this particular day because she woke up feeling slightly nauseous. So, now this brings us back to the slouching queen who was beginning to look a little green.

Nigel was breathing heavily; he had just finished conjuring a huge fireball as the last of his magical regiments. He turned around to stare at his student, who had begged for the morning off because she was ill. Nigel could see from her posture and facial expressions that she really was not feeling well. Her face was pale and she looked as if she were going to vomit at any moment.

"Janine, maybe you should—" he started to say before Janine jumped up from throne and ran from the room gagging. She rushed into the bathroom and proceeded to throw up. After about ten minutes of vomiting on and off, the episode passed. She washed her hands the best she could in the room. She shakily reached for the knob and pulled the door open to reveal a worried Kenric. He gently took her hand and then scooped her up bridal style and carried her back to her room. He laid her on the bed gently and pulled the covers over her. He quietly dismissed the chambermaids that were cleaning and instructed Janine to get some sleep. As he turned to leave Janine called him back saying,

"I really do not get to see you practice today, I was sorta out of it. Could you show me something? I mean, it does not have to be big and elaborate. Why don't you show me a transformation spell?" She asked. Kenric sighed.

"Okay, but then I want you to sleep… there really is no transformation spell per se, but just a transformation." said Kenric as he backed up from the bed a little ways and closed his eyes. He breathed in deeply to calm himself and concentrated. He felt the changes start. Janine could only stare in wonder as she watched Kenric start to change.

First his dark hair lightened to gray with black streaks still visible. Then the shape of his eyes became more narrow and his nose began to shrink. Then whiskers began to sneak their way onto his face. He began to grow gray and black striped fur on his face and body. His hands grew claws that shrank back into his hands as they changed into white paws. By now he was sporting two cat ears and a tail had just finished growing behind him. His face was completely feline in appearance now and all of a sudden Kenric doubled over as his knees reversed direction and his feet changed to paws. He began to shrink and his clothes billowed around him as he grew smaller and smaller. After a moment Janine could no longer see Kenric and looked over the edge of the bed to see a gray and black tabby sitting on top of Kenric's clothes. She was amazed beyond words.

"Nigel?" she called. The cat slowly padded over to the bed and hopped up onto it. He walked towards Giannine and when he was close enough, she began to pet him. The cat purred sweetly and Giannine giggled. "Is this the only thing you can turn into or can you change into more things?" Giannine was not expecting an answer because after all most cats don't talk. But she could only gape in surprise when Nigel answered her.

"I can turn into all kinds of animals existing and non-existing, big or small, prey or predator…if I can see it, I can become it…" said the cat simply as he sat down next to Giannine on the bed.

"Can you stay like this for long?" she asked. The cat nodded.

"Yes, but I run the risk of getting stuck this way if I forget who I am…" said Nigel.

"Wait a minute, I don't understand." said Giannine.

"See, when you take the form an animal you don't take on just its appearance but its mind. Or its instincts… If I lose control of those instincts, my human identity could become lost in the chaos and I will not be able change back until I remember." said Nigel.

"Oh, then let's not have that happen." said Giannine seriously. The cat nodded, hopped off of the bed, and landed gracefully on his feet. He slowly padded his way over to the door before calling back over his shoulder,

"Rest,"

"I will." said Giannine as she snuggled down into her bed to sleep off her illness but not before giggling at the fact that despite Nigel having a cat's body at the moment, he was still walking around the castle completely naked…

**Two months or so later in the real world…**

Nigel was becoming paranoid. There was still no sign of his brother in the game and Giannine had been acting very strangely lately. In the real world Giannine would be fine, she would be her usually chipper self but sometimes in the game she would act as if she was feeling really ill. Nigel would usually send her to bed and she would wake up later feeling right as rain. She was also sleeping later and eating more. Nigel was not sure what was going on but he decided that next time they visited the game world; he would send Giannine to see Orielle.

But at this particular moment he was having lunch with Giannine at her grandmother's apartment. Right as he opened his mouth to speak, his cell phone rang. He closed his mouth and pulled out the device. He flipped it open and put it to his ear, without looking to see who called.

"Hello, Nigel Rasmussem, speaking." He said.

"See ya soon, techno freak…" sneered an all too familiar voice before there was a soft 'click' and the line went dead. Nigel growled in annoyance and slammed the phone shut.

"Dale?" asked Giannine even though she knew that more likely than not that it had been. Nigel nodded as apprehension clouded his eyes. "Don't let him scare you… besides; we agreed that we were going to see Orielle and Wulfgar today, you promised."

"I know, we are still going… but I have a feeling that this might be our only chance to relax because I think Dale's ready to make his big appearance in Heir Expectant." said Nigel worriedly.

"Then let's get going, if Dale's going to drop in for a visit, what kind of hosts would we be if, we were not there to greet our _guest_." Said Giannine with a determined look on her face. Nigel nodded. As soon as they completed their meal, they walked to the gaming center together. The mood was like that of soldiers marching off to war. Both of the teens were determined but weary. After a while Giannine became uncomfortable with the silence and spoke,

"Hey Nigel,"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"What so you think that Dale is planning?" She asked before gulping at the intimidating thought.

"I am not sure, that is why I am nervous, little one." He answered. Giannine felt her stomach plummet. Nigel only used her pet name when he was in a really good mood or being extremely serious.

"Do you think that it might have something to do with the strange illness I have in the game?" asked Giannine.

"Hmmm… maybe, speaking of that, I want you to pull Orielle aside when you see her and let her look you over." He said as they neared the gaming center. Giannine nodded.

Within ten minutes later they were in the game, at a make shift campsite near Orielle and Wulfgar's new home. They had stopped at that point in the game because they were running low on time in their session. So, they spent about fifteen minutes packing up their equipment before continuing on to Wulfgar's place. After an hour of riding, they came across a path leading into a dense forest which Nigel turned onto with Giannine following him. They came across a medium sized cabin with a beautiful garden. Orielle was outside waving at them.

After Orielle stored their horses, she led them into the house where Wulfgar was waiting in a large living area with a couch and some comfortable chairs.

"Hello brother, sister." He said nodding to Kenric and Janine in turn as they entered the room. Kenric and Wulfgar started a conversation about guy things and Janine quickly became disinterested and decided to seek out the company of another female. She found Orielle sitting outside watching some birds feed from a medieval bird feeder from her porch. She sat down next the witch and said,

"You two have a lovely home." Orielle turned to her and replied with a smile,

"Her highness is far too kind." Janine shook her head.

"No, it is really very beautiful." said Janine. Janine moaned as familiar wave nausea washed over her. She put her head down on her knees and took deep calming breaths to try and ease her nausea. Orielle worriedly placed a comforting hand on the young Queen's back saying,

"Your highness, are you okay?" Janine lifted her head slightly and shook her head before explaining her strange illness to the witch. First, the witch went and fetched some water from a well and then gave it to Janine to drink. "Your symptoms are strange my Queen, unless… that is…"

"That is unless what?" asked Janine fearfully.

"Queen Janine is your virginity still intact?" asked Orielle. Janine just knew that she had already turned a deep shade of red, which obviously gave Orielle her answer. "Uh oh, my queen… I think that you might be with child." Janine blinked then looked up at the witch. She felt all the color drain from her face.

"Are you saying that I am going to… have a baby?" asked Janine. Orielle nodded. Janine began to tremble. She could be pregnant with Kenric's child… which could be both a blessing and a curse. It could be a good thing because she and Kenric would have an heir and Janine would have a reason to keep her throne. On the other hand the next few months in the game world could become very trying for her, especially with Dale running around somewhere in the game. Not to mention that being pregnant and giving birth were no easy feats, especially without the gift of pain killers. "Is… is there anyway to be sure?" Orielle nodded and stood motioning for the queen to do the same. The queen stood up slowly and Orielle muttered a spell that caused a white light to encase her hands and touched Janine's stomach and the white light turned blue.

"What does blue mean?" asked Janine.

"It means that you are indeed pregnant…" Orielle replied…

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**That is it! Review plz…**** Also I have started Chapter ****6;**** it will have a lot of action!! Promise!!!**


	6. Level 6 Dueling Dragons and Flying

Hey! I am glad most of you are still enjoying the story… Oh also, I have decided to call the chapters "levels". Just a little FYI… anyway here's more.

Disclaimer: All of the characters and storyline mentioned, except for Dale Rasmussem, Nigel's parents, Dr. McKinsey Scott, Janice Thompson, and George these are my original characters, belongs to Vivian Vande Velde but the story idea is mine!

**Level**** 6**

**Dueling Dragons**** and Flying Lessons**

"Who is the father?" asked the witch. Janine looked down at the ground, contemplating whether or not to tell Orielle the truth about Kenric and her. She had begun to fiddle with her riding shirt's collar as she thought. It was originally a riding shirt made for a male but the seamstresses took the seams in so that it fit her more fleshy and curvy assets. She was currently wearing strip of cloth around her chest to act as a support for her breasts. Her hair was down still and her pants were altered brown riding pants that used to belong to Kenric. She continued to wage a mental battle with herself and came to the conclusion that she could trust Orielle with their deepest secret.

"Orielle, you are one of the only few females that I actually trust in this kingdom, can I trust you to keep a secret?" pleaded Janine. Orielle nodded.

"Of course, my queen." She replied. Janine regarded her carefully; she could see that deep down in Orielle's eyes, she was telling the truth.

"Kenric." The queen stated quietly before she explained the crazy circumstances surrounding her relation to Kenric.

"Oh my, then this baby is a much needed blessing, because you can turn the throne over to Kenric, who is the father of the heir, he could in turn marry you, thus seal your hold on the throne." said Orielle, who was staring woodenly at the expecting queen because she was still in shock.

"I suppose so…" said Janine hesitantly as a messenger rode up the path and presented Janine with a scroll with Kenric's name on it. The young queen took it and stared at it before calling inside the house to Kenric. The two royals made their way outside, where Janine quietly handed Kenric the scroll. The young mage looked at it quizzically before opening it. As he read, Janine continued staring off into space as the reality of her pregnancy became more evident in her mind. As she absent-mindedly looked at the tranquil surroundings before her, Janine spotted something strange in the sky. It was blocking most of the sun. It looked like a large bird. Janine squinted harder as she tried to discern what the object was that she saw in the sky and whether or not she was seeing was real. The object seemed to be coming closer to them at an alarming rate. Janine nervously tapped Kenric on the shoulder to try and obtain his attention. But the mage was too preoccupied with what he was reading. Orielle and her husband also had their eyes transfixed on the parchment that Kenric was holding. Janine took another cautionary look skyward to see that the creature was practically upon them and that the creature was actually a dragon! "Oh no, not again!!!" groaned Janine mentally. The dragon was black and had a huge light blue streak down its back. Light blue… wait!

"Dale!!!" screeched the queen in alarm. Kenric looked up at her shout and his eyes went wide. He instantly dropped the paper he had been reading and jumped in between Janine and the dragon then released an icy shower of ice shards. The dragon instantly pulled away from the shards but regained its senses quickly before surging forward and taking a swipe at Kenric, thus knocking him into a nearby tree. The impact knocked him unconscious and he collapsed on the ground. The dragon continued his rampage by scooping up Janine in its massive claws and trying to take to the skies again. But before he could fully take off again, Wulfgar had rushed forward and grabbed Dale by his tail and was holding onto the beast, preventing it from going any higher. The dragon seemed to snort at his attempt at heroism before lashing his tail and throwing Wulfgar through one of the windows of his cabin. Orielle screamed and ducked as the dragon turned, surprisingly fast for a beast of his size, and tried to take a hit at her not a moment later. The witch could only watch helplessly as the dragon took to the skies with a captive Janine in his claws screaming,

"Help me!" Orielle quickly got back to her feet and rushed to the unconscious Kenric's side. She began to slap him on the sides of his face, in order to wake him because at the moment he was probably the only one who could save Janine. After a moment, he started to stir. His eyes slowly opened and Orielle wasted no time in hauling him to his feet before exclaiming,

"That flying lizard has Janine!" Kenric felt his heart plummet into the deepest pits of his stomach. He rushed past Orielle without a second thought; he already was concentrating on taking the form of an animal. Orielle could only stare in awe at the rapid transformation that was taking place before her. In a few mere seconds Kenric had become a full sized dragon! He was a stunning silver color with a black streak down his back. He took off into the skies leaving his shredded garments behind. He soared into the sky and spotted Dale's large form flying ahead of him. Kenric sped up until he passed the black flying reptile before he turned and launched a fire ball at the beast at close range. It hit Dale full in the face, flipping the dragon over, which caused Janine to go soaring out of his grasp and into the open air before she started to plummet towards the earth. She screamed as she fell. Kenric moved quickly and rushed past his floundering brother to snatch Janine out of the air.

Giannine felt her descent come to an abrupt halt. But she did not feel any pain. Was she dead? Had she died upon impact? She slowly opened one eye to discover that she was not dead but being held in the palm of a silver dragon! "There are two of them?!" she screeched in her mind. Before she had a real chance to panic, the dragon looked down at her. Giannine's eyes widened as she looked into a pair of familiar grey eyes.

"Nigel?!" she blurted out. The dragon nodded before turning its attention back to the black dragon's rapid descent. Both Giannine and Nigel stared as their newfound enemy crashed into the earth with a ground shaking BOOM! Nigel continued to beat his massive wings in order to stay aloft. He then heard a deafening roar.

"Uh oh, Giannine! He's still kicking!" Nigel said. But before Nigel and Giannine could do anything to prepare for his attack, Dale burst through the clouds in front of them. He forcefully tackled Nigel, which sent poor Giannine flying into the air once more! She screamed as she plummeted towards the earth at an unsafe rate. She racked her brain trying to find a way to save herself from almost certain death. She could recall some of her magic training but the only thing that may have been able to save her was her wind magic. She thrusted her hands towards the ground and pulled the wind through her hands and directed it towards the ground just like Kenric had shown her. Giannine could begin to feel her descent slow down almost immediately. She was now able to see the ground below her and began to slightly relax as she continued to gently ease herself down to the ground. She realized that she was now in a new clearing that was probably miles away from the cabin. There were trees lining a huge field that was about the size two football fields back in the real world. The trees, once they started, they went on for miles away from the field. She sighed in relief when she realized that the only things that were in the field was grass and stones. Therefore, no innocent bystanders would be hurt. After a few moments, she touched down to the ground with a quiet thud and let out a sigh of relief. Giannine looked up into the clouds, anxiously hoping that Nigel was okay…

The two massive beasts circled each other, in an almost hostile ritualistic dance in the sky. Swipe. Dodge. Miss. This was all done in rapid, repetitive succession. Nigel glared at his brother. Nigel was having a very hard time keeping the dragon's instincts in check due to his own anger and nerves. There was only one thought egging him on. Giannine. He had to be sure that she was safe. Dale must have smelt his anxiety because as the black dragon took another swipe at him it sneered,

"Let it go! She's dead!" Nigel swiftly dodged that attack as his anger continued to build. Dale could feel his brother's rage increasing and decided to push him even further. "I could only imagine what her last moments were like… the sheer panic, the incredible amount of pain, then absolute oblivion! Oh, if I could have seen it!" The sadistic dragon started to smile. That is when Nigel lost it and he raised a clawed hand and swiped at Dale so fast and hard that Dale really did not see it coming until he felt the searing pain in the right side of his face. Nigel let out an enraged snarl as his left quickly followed after his right to deliver another powerful blow to the opposite side of Dale's face. While his brother was still reeling from the blows to his face, Nigel lunged forward and attacked the black dragon's exposed throat and started ripping it open with ferocious malice. Nigel then pulled back and rammed his head and shoulder into Dale's chest. The two brothers began to drop towards the ground below them…

Giannine had been staring up at the sky hoping to catch a glimpse of Nigel or Dale, but had not seen a thing. Then she noticed that her shadow was becoming larger and happened to look up once more and saw a huge mass streaking down towards her. She gave a cry of alarm and scrambled out of the way. She had barely made it about five whole steps before there was a huge explosion in her ears and the shockwave that was created on impact threw her off of her feet and onto her face a few feet away. She struggled to her feet and turned around to see a huge crater had formed where she had just stood moments before. She ran over to see whether Nigel was hurt or not. She knew she was taking a huge risk by doing so but she needed to know. She dropped to her knees and looked over into the crater to see a silver dragon hunched over the body of a dead black dragon whose throat had been viciously been torn open. The wound oozed perfuse amounts of blood. She was relieved to see that Nigel was alright but was deeply trouble by the fact that he had murdered his own brother. She became even more surprised when the black dragon began to glow a strange grey color. All of a sudden the dragon's wounds started to heal. Its throat slowly began to reseal itself and the claw marks on its face slowly grew smaller until they completely disappeared. The silver dragon had begun to back away when suddenly the ebony dragon leapt forward and pinned the silver dragon down.

"No!" Giannine shouted. Nigel struggled to free himself from his brother's grip but Dale bore all of his weight down on his younger sibling, so that Nigel could barely move. How… How had his brother survived? He should have died before or upon impact but all of his wounds healed and he was now at prime condition once more. Then Nigel saw it. A black ribbon adorned his sibling's neck and from it hung an old, worn silver talisman. Upon the disc was an engraving of his father's seal. Nigel's eyes widened in shock, Dale saw this and laughed.

"So, you recognize this little trinket, brother? It was, well is, your father's healing talisman… It is a rather useful tool to have… with it I am practically immortal!! " sneered Dale as he grinned ferally at his captive. A strong sense of fear had started to grow within Nigel because he now realized that he was at an extreme disadvantage. His brother was in top condition and would continue to be so as he long as he had that talisman around his neck. While Nigel's condition would only continue to get worse as he became injured and slowly started to tire. What could he do? He could only watch in horror as his brother's hand went into the air and the sun's light gleamed off of his claws before they came down towards his face. Nigel could only squeeze his eyes shut as he waited for the impending strike because he knew that he could not escape. There was a cry from his brother but there was no connecting attack. Then he felt the weight on his shoulders disappear and opened his eyes in surprise to see that his brother was no longer on top of him. Nigel slowly struggled to his feet and saw that his brother was rolling around on the ground in obvious pain.

"What in the--" started Nigel until he heard something whistle through the air, followed by a sharp snap, and then he saw his brother's hands fly up to grasp the back of his neck as he cried out in pain again. Nigel frowned in confusion and quickly turned around to see what was attacking his brother. There to Nigel's surprise and absolute joy, he saw Giannine standing on the side of the crater with her riding shirt open, part of her breasts exposed due to the fact that she was holding the cloth that she used as a makeshift bra in her hands. She slowly reached down to pick up a medium sized stone and laid it on top of the open cloth that she had laid across her other hand. She then gripped the two ends of the cloth with her other hand and pulled them upwards until the stone was encased in the cloth. She then lifted the stone up and began to swing it around her head. Nigel realized what she was doing now; she was using the cloth as a makeshift slingshot. All of a sudden, Giannine let go of one end of the cloth and the stone went sailing through the air then smacked Dale right on his behind with a sharp CRACK! Dale howled and jumped forward in surprise and pain. He ended up hitting his head on the side of the crater. Nigel sniggered slightly but he stopped abruptly when his brother whirled around to face him with a scowl on his face. Nigel steeled himself in preparation for his brother's next attack. But he wasn't prepared for his brother to leap past him in order to attack Giannine.

Giannine reacted quickly enough, though. She swiftly ducked down, loaded her slingshot and struck again. The small stone struck Dale struck right between his eyes while he was still in midair. He stopped dead in his tracks and howled in pain as he clutched at his forehead. Nigel took advantage of this and launched himself out of the crater and into the air spreading his wings as he did so to stay aloft as he lunged at his brother's back. He tackled him from behind before he could recover. Nigel grunted as he felt his brother's body connect with the ground once more. All of a sudden, Dale rolled his body over underneath Nigel, planted his feet under Nigel's belly, and pushed up and over to throw Nigel over his head. Nigel landed chin first onto the ground with cry as Dale rolled back onto his feet and charged at Nigel once again. But once again Giannine had been keeping up with the battle and rushed to her lover's aid. She had just gotten close enough to the current battle scene to attack and did so. She launched another rock at the enraged dragon and it struck Dale right in the eye. His hands immediately flew up to grasp at his injured eye with a screech of pain. Giannine wasted no time and rushed to Nigel's side to see that he was already climbing to his feet.

"Giannine… where did you learn to…?" started Nigel but he was cut off by Giannine screaming,

"Look out!" Then she dove out of the way as Dale lunged forward, half-blind at the two. Nigel barely had time to get out of the way. He dodged the attack and Dale's head connected with the ground and he rolled over and over before coming to a stop on his face. Giannine had already found two more small stones and was ready to strike whenever she had to. Nigel was crouched slightly and positioned to leap forward to defend his queen if he needed to. Dale was slowly and clumsily making it back to his feet. He was repeatedly shaking his head to clear it. He turned around to glare at the pair and they immediately noticed that his injured right eye was still oozing blood and had not healed yet. "Hey Nigel, Why hasn't…?"

"The wound has not healed because the rock is still lodged in his eye and the talisman only works on wounds that do not have anything blocking them. The rock is keeping the wound from closing up." He answered quickly as he leapt forward and tried to attack his brother. But Dale sensed the danger and took to the skies. He then flew over Nigel with his claws extended, completely intending to impale Giannine as retribution for her attacks on him earlier. Nigel realized this, instantly turned around and darted forward, and snatched Giannine off of the ground. This caught Giannine off guard and caused her to scream in surprise and drop the stones and the cloth that she had been using as her slingshot. He continued up into the air and Dale missed her completely. He growled in annoyance and began to chase his younger brother with a growl. He quickly caught up to him and fired a fireball at Nigel from behind. Nigel cried out as the flaming projectile exploded upon his back. Dale shot forward, took in a deep breathe, and held it. He felt the heat gather in his lungs and chest before turning and releasing a hot, fiery blast into his younger sibling's face. Nigel cried out again before unconsciousness took over and he started to fall.

Unfortunately, Giannine was falling also but she was not as scared as she was nauseous. The morning sickness that she had been experiencing had only been increased by the stress of this battle and she was now starting to feel the aftereffects. But she willed the nausea down and called out to her unconscious boyfriend, whose paw she was still stuck in. After a few moments, he started to stir and Giannine shouted for him to do something. He looked behind him to see that they were a few feet from colliding with the ground. Nigel quickly brought the hand that clutched Giannine to his chest and used his other hand to cover her. "Just hang on!" Giannine grabbed a hold on one of his fingers and clung there. As she felt herself drop, she felt a scream crawling its way up her throat.

"Niiiiigggggeeeellll!!!!!" she screamed as they continued to fall. Then she felt a body jarring thud. She slowly opened her clenched eyes and called Nigel's name but when she got no response, she slowly sat up and slipped from his grip. She moved the hand laying over her to see that she was lying on top of Nigel's chest on the ground. Nigel was on his back. She could see where the fire from Dale's attacks had removed scales from Nigel's shoulders and neck and the ones that were left were scorched a deep black. The flesh underneath them had been blistered a dark pink. She fought back tears as she tried to wake Nigel up. She felt a slight stirring from him and heard a soft moan but he did not completely come around. She looked up in alarm when she heard Dale land near them. His eye was no longer leaking fluid but one could tell that it had been damaged. He stalked forward slowly as Giannine slid off of Nigel and came to stand in front of him. Dale noticed this and started to smirk, which looked very disturbing coming from a dragon. He continued forward to see if she would buckle but she did not. To Dale it did not matter, the girl was getting in his way, so she must be destroyed.

Giannine eyed the talisman the dragon was wearing with keen interest. Just maybe she could even the score up for Nigel if she could get her hands on that talisman. She still stood her ground in front of her still semi-conscious mate, trying to protect him, even if she had lost her only weapon when Nigel had barely saved her from one of Dale's more recent attacks. Dale grinned maliciously and Giannine finally understood what she needed to do. Dale suddenly lunged forward and at the same time Giannine thrusted her hands forward and summoned a strong gale of wind, which caught Dale's wings and threw him back. Giannine rushed forward as Dale landed on his back and scrambled onto his stomach and up to his neck. She reached down and started to pull at the ribbon that held the talisman around Dale's neck. But Dale recovered too quickly and took a swipe Giannine. He grinned darkly as he felt his claws rip through her flesh as the impact of the attack sent her flying off of his body and onto to the ground a few feet away.

She landed on her back with her arm draped over her slashed body. Dale's claws had ripped four huge gashes diagonally across Giannine's exposed chest from the start of her abdomen to the start of her neck. Blood stained the shirt that she had been wearing a deep red. The blood splatter patterns looked like continuations of the scars in her flesh. Her skin was already becoming ashen in color. The girl's auburn hair partly obscured her face, which was turned to the side but one of her eyes could still be seen and it was open wide and glazed over. The spark that had been in her eyes the moment before was gone, leaving her visible eye vacant in appearance. She was dead, Dale knew that but what he did not know that in one of the dead girl's graying hands was his healing talisman…

Nigel finally managed to come back to his senses and as he struggled to his feet, he realized that something was wrong. He instantly looked about for Giannine but could not find her. Then he heard a voice sneer,

"Looking for this?" Nigel turned around to face his brother's voice to see his brother using his head to gesture to the broken body of Giannine lying nearby. Nigel felt his heart skip a beat.

"No..." he whimpered. Dale was truly enjoying the moment and backed away to make room for Nigel as slowly he approached the body of the one he had loved. "No, she just cannot be dead…" he moaned as he approached her. He slowly nudged her face with his muzzle but she did not respond. He could feel hot tears slowly welling up in his eyes. His wings slowly sagged to the ground as he saw the long deep scratches in her body. "Oh, baby," he moaned softly as his eyes looked over her broken body. The tears slowly started to fall. Nigel started screaming as he felt the agony of his heart shattering in his chest. The area around him began to spin and he began to feel sick but the pain only continued to increase. "Why?!! Why her?!!" he shrieked as he slowly lost his mind to grief. Dale was truly delighting in the sounds that his younger brother was emitting; they were horrific like the sounds of a wounded animal. He knew that he had wounded his brother but his intention was to drive him mad. It was now time to pour salt on his brother's freshly bleeding wound.

"You know it's a shame…" he said in an almost sympathetic tone. Nigel whirled on his brother roaring in indignation. "She died protecting you… since when did such a weak creature like a woman, have to protect a man?" The sound that came out of Nigel's mouth could only be described as utterly demonic. He recklessly charged at his brother in a rage-induced frenzy. Dale laughed as he dodged his brother's strike and countered with one of his own that hit its mark. Nigel was knocked on his side, which knocked the fight out of Nigel and his rage was replaced with an unbearable sorrow. He gave up and just looked up at his older brother through glassy defeated eyes with his face marred by empty tear trails. Dale was not smiling now. He had expected more of a fight from Nigel but he guessed that was what he got for expecting anything out of his weaker sibling. But it had been fun. He slowly moved towards his brother intending on going for the final kill.

Meanwhile, Nigel was thinking back on what Dale had said. Giannine had died defending him even if she was weaponless… and here he was giving up. He growled low in his throat, Giannine's sacrifice was not going to go in vain because he was suffering from a broken heart. Right then Nigel felt the pain slowly ebb away and his suffering heart slowly grow colder and colder until it was a frozen lump of cracked ice in his chest. His gray eyes turned the color of steel as he slowly crawled to his feet. There would be plenty of time to grieve but now was the time for retribution. Nigel felt himself smirk at the shocked look on his brother's face. Suddenly Nigel shot forward and tackled his brother and Dale threw him off once again. But this time when Nigel flipped over, he pushed off of the ground with his hands and took off into the skies and somersaulted before coming after Dale again. Dale gasped in shock and jumped out of the way but Nigel just turned around came at him again. Dale just looked on, transfixed by the look in his brother's eyes. They were the color of cold steel and lacked any emotion. Dale now realized that he had unleashed that killing intent that he had wanted. But now he was not sure if he liked it being there. Nigel sped towards his brother but Dale took to the skies and flew away but Nigel did not stop but only changed course to follow Dale laughing,

"Oh Dale! We have unfinished business brother!" But still on the ground lay Giannine… the poor girl was still lying in the same position that Nigel found her in. But suddenly the talisman in her dead hand started to glow brightly. Slowly the female's cold body started to grow warm and her gray skin begin to lighten to her original bronze skin tone as her color started to return. The scratches started to heal. The blood that had spilt from them slowly seeped back into the scars they came from. Then the lesions grew thinner and thinner until they almost completely disappeared, save for four medium sized light pink scars that stretched from the junction between her neck and shoulders to the start of her abdomen. The light suddenly started to dim and Giannine's eyes slowly fluttered open. She gently lifted herself from the ground and looked around in confusion. "What happened?" she thought as she looked around and saw no one. She had remembered climbing on top of Dale and then feeling a deep pain in her chest. Then she felt herself falling and then nothing. But later she felt something cold on her face and her entire body felt cold. Then she became warm as warming sensation spread through her body.

But as she continued to try and piece together what had happened, she heard a roar from above. Her head shot up, at that moment, to see two huge figures fighting each other in the air. Then she remembered where she was and what was happening. She looked around continuing to try to find anything to help Nigel, like she had been doing before she blacked out. Then she felt something in her hand and looked down at it. She smiled because in her hand was the healing talisman. Maybe she did not need to help Nigel after all since Dale no longer had the advantage. She tied the shredded black ribbon around her slender neck and continued staring into the air as she watched what she could see of the fight. "I wonder does ol' Dale even know that it is gone?" she wondered in her mind with a laugh.

In the sky, Dale was huffing and puffing as he tried to dodge his brother's attacks. Nigel on the other hand, was feeling absolutely nothing. His heart had frozen over when he decided that he would not die until his brother had paid his debt in blood for killing Giannine. The concoction of adrenaline and the other hormones that were causing his frenzied rampage had made his body impervious to pain although he too sported some injures from the fight. Nigel took another swipe at his brother, which ended up putting a few claws marks on the black dragon's chest. Dale doubled over and grasped at his chest with a hiss of pain. Nigel admired the blood on his claws with indifference before eyeing his brother. He looked haggard in appearance and he was bleeding from various places. His chest was visibly heaving up and down, he was breathing was so hard. His right eye was now swollen shut and his wings were the only things that were not sporting any wounds or welts. There were visible jagged paths of pink on the dragon's sides and back from where its scales had been knocked off by Nigel. Both sides of Dale's face sported new red whiskers that were actually two more sets of reminders of Nigel's successful attacks. Nigel just laughed at his brother's pitiful state.

"Who's practically immortal now?" he sneered mockingly. Dale's eyes widened in shock and then his face morphed into a cruel smile.

"Look at the monster I have created! I wonder what your sweet Giannine would say if she saw you like this?" sneered Dale just as evilly, almost gloating in a way.

"Does not matter… she is dead," He said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. Dale's grin only widened but it disappeared completely when Nigel added, "just like you are about to be." Dale felt his first real taste of fear in a long time. Well, he was not feeling _real_ fear nor was he feeling _real_ pain. He was in a secluded location hooked up to one of Nigel's old partial immersion chambers, which were the precursors to the total immersion chambers that made his gaming company famous. It only partly submerged a player in a game. The senses that were focused on were sight and touch. He could feel prompted pain and touched related reactions in accordance with what he saw but he was not feeling the same kind of pain that Nigel and his toy, Giannine were feeling; their pain was _real_ thanks to his virus. The last crucial thing about the chamber he was playing from, was that unlike them he would not die for real if he died in the game. But nonetheless, he had felt a shiver race down his spine at his brother's cold and uncaring voice and the fact that Dale now knew that he had lost the healing talisman. Dale made the mistake of looking into Nigel's eyes and was instantly paralyzed as he saw his own death in the cold diamond colored eyes. "Enough talk." snapped Nigel as he started to glow orange. Dale could only stare as all of Nigel's scales started to glow the color of blazing embers. Then the tip of his tail caught on fire and his horns and the spikes along his back burst into red flames. Then there was a huge swoosh sound and a roar as his brother's wings ignited. Dale was screaming inside his mind at himself to run but he still could not move. Nigel drew in a deep breath and let loose a stream of fire in the form of spiral. It slammed into Dale and he screamed in agony. When Nigel's attack finished, he watched as Dale fell towards the earth…

Giannine had lost sight of the dragons since the sun had started to set and the light was now in her eyes. But then she noticed that something was falling a little ways away from her. She instantly got to her feet and rushed over to the area, half-fearing that her poor Nigel was the one falling. When she reached the place she thought she saw the dragon fall, there was a dragon missing about half of its body's scales lying in another crater. She gave a sigh of relief as she realized that dragon was Dale and not Nigel. But then she felt an enormous amount of heat coming from above and looked around behind her to see a huge fire blast coming down towards the crater. She quickly moved out of range and cringed as she heard Dale scream in pain once more when the fire connected with his already charred body. All of a sudden, a huge bright orange dragon landed on the opposite side of the crater that she was standing near. It looked like it was on fire but the fire she saw did not burn the ground that the dragon was standing on. But suddenly, the dragon's beautiful orange color evaporated and it turned a familiar shade of silver.

"Nigel?" whispered Giannine in stunned surprise. He must have fused his other magic forms with his dragon form to enhance his power. Nigel had appeared to not have heard the young woman because his eyes remained glued to the crater that was still burning in various places now. In her current position she could see that the crater was shallow in depth and inside it lay Dale's ravaged body. Despite what a cruel person Dale was, she was still appalled at the amount of damage Nigel had done to his brother. She had never seen this side of Nigel before and it scared her. Giannine harbored this secret fear that Nigel might become like his brother and hurt her. Because when it came down to appearance, Dale and Nigel favored each other greatly but not completely. But what separated them were their personalities. Dale was the brute: physically bigger and stronger, cruel, indifferent, and sarcastic. Whereas Nigel was warm, caring, understanding, and he was strong but his strength came from his heart. Both boys was clever and intelligent. "Nigel?" she called again, only this time a little louder. But again he did not seem to hear her, although Dale did. Dale grinned even while in agony, because he may not have won this battle but he would win the war because Nigel had unintentionally handed him the keys to his younger brother's defeat.

"Ah ha, Miss Giannine Bellisario… what an effect you have on my brother!" chuckled Dale weakly as he waited for her inevitable response.

"What are you talking about Dale?" she snapped as she kept her eyes glued on the unmoving form of Nigel. The wounded black dragon smiled as the girl fell unwillingly into his trap.

"I am sure that my younger brother would have greeted you if he weren't crazy with bloodlust…" huffed Dale as he tried to stand but could not and slumped back down with a moan. Giannine automatically felt a twinge of pity for Dale; after all, she did have a heart. But her eyes blazed with anger at his description of her Nigel.

"Nigel is not crazy with bloodlust! He is not cruel like you!" shouted Giannine.

"Oh, you poor _naive _girl," sneered Dale before he was cut off by a cold voice.

"Shut up, you worthless lizard and die…" Giannine felt her heart nearly stop as she realized that the malicious voice was coming from Nigel. No… Nigel was not cruel, he could not be! He hadn't been… She watched as Nigel's scales changed to a sapphire hue and his spikes, horns, and wings turned a deep ice blue. She watched as Nigel took a breath and then released an icy blast of air at the dying dragon that lay helpless before him. Giannine's eyes widened in horror as she heard Dale screech in pain as the cold mist of ice pelted and scratched at his burned flesh. He tried in vain to get away but could not even make it to his feet and kept collapsing. Finally, the dragon was reduced to waddling and writhing in agony under the frozen shower while begging for mercy. Giannine felt tears flooding down her face at the sight. Finally she heard herself scream,

"Nigel! Nigel please! Please stop!" She was now sobbing uncontrollably. This was not her Nigel… this was not the man that she had loved before… What did Dale do to him? Then she remembered what Dale had said earlier and that the condition Nigel was in now had to have something to do with her… so she would have to stop it. She started running towards the blue colored dragon. She had to stop Nigel before he completely lost himself to his darker side. She cried out as she finally leapt in the direct path of the frozen onslaught of ice right in front crater with her own body. The pain was excruciating but she would not let up. "N-N-Nigel! P-P-Pl-Please s-s-s-st-sto-pp!" she cried as she fought against the current trying to get to her lover so that she could try to make him see reason. Every now and again as the biting ice and cold ate at her skin, she would cry out in pain. Dale grinned in delight as he watched the two lovebirds fight each other. He slowly crawled to his feet. He quietly tested his wings to make sure he could still fly before he slowly took off into the air. He flew up and hovered a few feet away. He smirked before he attacked Nigel with a fire ball. The sapphire dragon had not even notice that he was gone. The fire blast ended up hitting Nigel dead on. The ice dragon flew backwards and his attack immediately stopped. Giannine slumped to her knees breathing hard. Her skin was scratched up and pale. Her once cherry red lips were a sickly blue color. She looked very tired and worn. She doubled over as she felt a serve pain in her lower abdomen. She gasped and gripped her middle as another pain shot through her.

Nigel was already getting back to his feet and glaring at Dale who was flying away. He started to fly after his brother but stopped when he felt a hand grasp his tail. He turned, ready smite whoever dared to touch him, and saw a young woman grabbing on to him for dear life.

"Nigel…" moaned the girl. The dragon stared intensely at the young woman. He knew her. Then his eyes connected her familiar light colored ones and then he remembered. These eyes were the same lifeless eyes that he had seen when Giannine had been killed. Giannine! The woman was Giannine and she was alive. Nigel felt the ice around his heart melt as he stared into the tear-stricken eyes of a pale Giannine. She was shaking and her lips were blue. The tears she had been crying were frozen trails on her face. They made her look like one of those porcelain dolls that had crystalline tears glued to their faces. She looked so pitiful standing there. He watched her body relax when she noticed that he had finally snapped out his crazed stupor. He was just about to ask her what happened when the memories of the last few moments came flooding back. He had tortured his brother… he had been so cruel… he had been so consumed by his hatred for his brother that he had become blinded to everything else. He must have hurt Giannine in the process of trying to obliterate his brother. The shame began to build up inside his chest and he was forced to look away from his lover. "What does she think of me, now?" he moaned in his mind.

Giannine had watched Nigel's eyes soften back to their natural warm gray. Inwardly, she was ecstatic but she was just too tired to show it. But her mood suddenly changed to one of concern when Nigel's expressive eyes became troubled and he looked away. She smiled sadly as she realized what Nigel might have been thinking about. She slowly let go of his tail and started to walk towards his head but wobbled halfway there and fell down on her knees with a moan. Nigel whirled around at the sound and came to stand by Giannine and lowered his muzzle, which she grabbed onto with both hands. Then he lifted her up in the air and sat her back down gently on her feet. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Nigel, I am not upset with you for what you did but I was worried though." said Giannine. But soon after that she went down on her knees again. Nigel called out her name in alarm as she clutched her stomach. She had not been pregnant before. That meant that she also had not experienced a miscarriage either. But she could imagine what one felt like and that is exactly how Giannine felt at that moment. She hissed as another wave of pain and nausea swept over her battered form. She could feel the fresh tears start to fall. She did not want to lose this baby. "Nigel… need Orielle… help…" she managed to gasp out before she lost consciousness.

Nigel slowly picked up Giannine's body and cradled her in his arms like an infant before he looked down and spied the talisman hanging around her neck. Nigel leaned down to inspect the necklace and accidentally brushed his nose against its chilly surface. He gasped softly when the amulet began to glow. The light spread out to encase Giannine's body then the light receded just as quickly into her abdomen and disappeared. Giannine moaned slightly and slowly opened her eyes again. The necklace was the talisman that Dale had been wearing; she was healed and would be fine. She gave him a reassuring smile and he slowly lowered her back down to the ground with a sigh of relief. She gently leapt from his arms completely good as new. He smiled inwardly, relived that she was okay. But then Nigel noticed that there was something missing from the scene. Dale? Where had he gone?

"Giannine, did you see where Dale went?" asked Nigel. Giannine looked around for a moment and shook her head. Nigel felt the scales on the back of his neck stand up and whirled around to receive a fire ball to the face. The force knocked Nigel backwards. He heard Giannine give a cry as she scrambled out of the way of his fall. He grunted as he landed on his back. But from his current position he could see Dale streaking in for another attack. But Nigel did not have to worry about defending himself because Giannine jumped right back into the fray. As Nigel was hastily getting to his feet, he watched with pride as Giannine summoned a gust of wind to drive Dale off course. Nigel had only given her the basics of how to control the wind and she was already working it as if she knew what she was doing. She could not do as much as he could but she had such a creative and agile mind that she could manipulate the wind in any way she chose and it would still serve her purpose.

Dale righted himself and tried to charge her again but she summoned another blast of air and he was rolled over and over in the air. Nigel wasted no time and he charged into the sky after his disoriented brother. He hit Dale at full speed from behind, which earned him a punch in the head. Dale quickly reoriented himself while Nigel was nursing his head and attacked Nigel while he was distracted.

Giannine knew this fight had to end soon. She took a deep breath and thrusted her hands forward, summoning the biggest gale she could muster. The wind was so strong that it whipped her hair into her face and caused the nearby trees in the clearing that they had been fighting in to bow towards the earth. Giannine heard the sound of branches breaking before three fair sized branches shot past her and into the sky being carried by her wind. She watched as one of them buried itself into Nigel's right shoulder and the other two ripped through Dale's right wing. She had initially frowned because she had accidentally hurt Nigel but she gave a cry of success when she saw that the other two had injured Dale. She concentrated again and focused on calling up a strong wind. She heard the sound of breaking branches again and she turned to see a long branch with a medium width and three smaller branches sticking off the end of it heading straight for her. But instead of being afraid she took a step to her left and turned back around and stuck out her right hand to grasp the front of the branch near the top as the branch flew past her. She shouted in alarm as she was instantly pulled into the air. She was grasping the handle with both hands now as swung her leg over the branch to keep from falling off. She concentrated on keeping the wind strong so that the branch would stay a loft. She looked ahead of her to see that she was headed straight towards Nigel and Dale but she knew that she only had one shot because she could only aim in one direction, after all she was only a mage's apprentice. She knew that she was going to need Nigel's help in order to make it work. But she knew even if she got close enough to him for him to hear her, there probably would not be enough time for him to do anything. "Gah! I wish he could hear me!" thought Giannine. But just as she finished the thought, she felt a presence in her mind. It felt familiar.

"Nigel?" she whispered. She nearly lost her grip when she heard Nigel answer in her head.

"Yes?" he said.

"How?! Never mind. Nigel, keep Dale where he is! I have a plan but I need a clear shot because, I only have one shot. Can you keep him place?" asked Giannine.

"Sure. But baby… I don't understand…" he started.

"Do you trust me?" asked Giannine cutting her boyfriend off although she was inwardly smiling because of the 'baby' remark. Nigel had never called her that before and it felt really good.

"Yes, but…" he started again but Giannine was not hearing it.

"Then prove it! Keep Dale in place, on my mark…"

"But Giannine…"

"NOW!" she cried urgently. Nigel swallowed back his doubts and struck out his brother again to put distance between the two of them before Nigel started to circle his brother. He started off slow at first but then he quickly sped up causing his brother to spin faster and faster like a toy spinning top. Nigel kept going faster and faster until he heard his ears start to ring but he did not stop because he had to wait for Giannine's signal, he would trust her.

Giannine was meters away from the dragons now although all that could be seen were two different color blurs in midair. She had watched as Nigel had started circling his brother, using the momentum of his flight speed to spin his older brother around and around in the same place. Now, it was up to her. She waited until she was nearly two feet away from colliding with the still moving Nigel before she shouted,

"Bail!" Then everything happened in almost slow motion, she saw Nigel stop and pull up out of his spiraling flight pattern. Dale was still spinning but starting to slow down as she got closer. She pulled her legs up and positioned her knees on the branch. Nigel was coming around from behind his brother towards her. Dale had finally stopped spinning and he was trying to regain his senses. She focused harder and forced more wind behind the branch she was riding on and when she was a half a foot away from Dale, she used her knees to push off the branch. Without her weight burdening the branch, it sped up, pierced through Dale's scales and flesh, and went straight through his heart and out the other side before he could even register what was going on. At the same time, Nigel had caught Giannine on his back and she was now sitting atop the silver dragon as she watched the light leave Dale's remaining eye as he plunged towards the earth for a final time. Giannine moved to Nigel's neck and wrapped her arms around him as much as she could and said, "Let's go check on your brother and Orielle and then we can go home." He nodded and flew off towards his brother's home without another word being spoken.

When the two of them reached the cabin, they found Orielle standing outside pacing as Wulfgar was watching the sky from porch. He had bandages around his head and his arms. When Wulfgar spotted them he called over to Orielle and Janine and Kenric smiled when they heard her give a cry of joy when she looked in their direction and spotted them flying towards them. Kenric landed in front of the two and Wulfgar helped Janine down, blushing when he noticed that her bloodstained, white riding shirt was open revealing her scared breasts. Janine instantly started asking if Wulfgar was alright and he in turn reassured her that he was fine. After a few moments, Janine turned back to Kenric and noticed that he had not changed back yet. She was about to ask why but then her eyes fell on the shredded remains of his clothing a few feet from where he was standing. She turned to Wulfgar and asked if he had any clothes that Kenric could borrow. The werewolf nodded and walked into his house. Now Orielle could fully see Nigel and she gasped. Her eyes had immediately fell upon the branch that was embedded in his shoulder. She walked over to him and gingerly reached out to touch his injured shoulder.

"You poor thing, does it hurt?" She asked as she started examining his wound. He shook his head no but grimaced and hissed as soon her fingers moved the branch on accident, which sent pain streaking through his shoulder. She instantly started at the sound and Janine moved to his side saying,

"I'm sorry about that Nigel. I was just trying to help and I did not realize that the branches had broken off until they came flying past me." She had started caressing his side as Wulfgar came back with clothes for Kenric. He handed them to Janine but Orielle stopped her from giving them to Kenric.

"Wait, I need to remove this branch first before he can change back. Wulfgar and Janine hold him down because he is going to fight." said Orielle. Nigel slowly laid down on his side and Wulfgar moved to hold him around the neck. Then Janine sat the clothes on the porch and came to hold Nigel's right arm down. Orielle nodded and moved closer to the branch. She grasped the exposed end of the branch with both hands. "Okay kid, this might hurt…" Kenric quirked an eyebrow before responding,

"What do you mean 'this might hurt', it already— arrghhh!" Kenric ended up screaming because almost as soon as he had opened his mouth to speak, Orielle began pulling on the branch. Kenric jerked poor Janine all over the place but she continued to hold him down. Wulfgar grunted as he clung to Kenric's neck as the mage thrashed about in agony. After a few agonizing minutes the branch slipped out and Kenric groaned with relief as the pain slowly ebbed away. After he rested for a moment, he slowly stood and went behind a nearby tree. Janine walked over to where she left the discarded clothes and took them over to the tree and laid them down. The dragon nodded and she turned and walked away. But after she took a few steps, she remembered something. She slipped the ribbon off of her neck and turned back around. She walked back to the tree intending to leave the talisman for Kenric to heal himself with on his clothes. But she did not realize that it only took a few seconds for Kenric to change back. As soon as she laid her hand on his shirt and released the talisman she was holding, another human hand covered her own. She looked up startled and ended up staring right into the eyes of a human Kenric. A warm blush immediately spread through her face. After he did not remove his hand, she gave a nervous laugh and he smiled. She started to focus on the tree behind him in order to keep her eyes from wandering over the rest of his body. He noticed this and smiled again before removing his hand and moving it to the side of her face. She started to protest but that was quickly silenced when Kenric gently placed his lips on hers. She eagerly kissed him back for a moment before he pulled away and said,

"I love you; I never got to tell you that earlier…" She grinned and blushed anew before muttering a quick, 'love you, too.' Then she turned and left. Kenric chuckled at the young queen that had stolen his heart. She was just too cute sometimes. She held the wisdom of a woman but one would not know it at first glance because she acted so innocent most of the time. He looked down at his clothes to see that Janine had laid his father's healing talisman on top of his clothes. He reached down and picked it up and it instantly started to glow. Nigel sighed softly as the light brushed over his skin and healed his wounds. When he looked down at himself, there was not even a speck of blood left on his body after the light disappeared. There were a few light scars here and there from his deeper injuries, though. He slowly placed the amulet back on the ground and started putting on his clothes…

Janine had wandered back over to the cabin and with a small smile on her face. Orielle had watched the young queen's exchange with Prince Kenric and could not help but smile affectionately. Her highness was definitely in love and it seemed that Kenric was quite taken by love's spell also. As Janine sat down near her, Orielle could not help but ask,

"When do you plan on telling him about the new heir?"

"Whenever I get the chance…" she replied quietly. Orielle grinned even wider before saying,

"Well, here's your chance…" Janine looked up to see Kenric walking up in an all black outfit similar to the one that he had been wearing the first day she met him with the talisman hanging about his neck and she smiled as her mind began to backtrack to the first time she had stuck a foot in St. Jehan, to Kenric's and her first meeting, and to the first time that she had met Nigel face to face. She could not help but smile at the fond memories. By then, Kenric had reached the porch and was standing there smiling at her.

"You seemed to be lost deep in thought… should I send for help?" asked Kenric after a few moments of silence. Janine burst out laughing and her trip down memory lane was put on hold for the moment. She then shook her auburn haired head at Kenric's antics.

"Are you sure you are the prince and not the court jester?" she asked as a rebuttal. Kenric started caught off guard and Orielle giggled. He then laughed out loud and said,

"Touché! As usual, my queen, your wit never seems to fail you. But in all seriousness, what were you thinking about?" He sat down next to her on the opposite side of Orielle as Orielle said,

"I am going inside to check on Wulfgar and I'll leave you two to yourselves." They both nodded as the older woman stood up and headed inside. Kenric gently put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Janine placed her head on his shoulder as she answered,

"That outfit reminds me of when we first met in the game and then that lead me to remembering when you and I met for the first time, Nigel." He grinned when he heard this.

"Oh really?" he said as he laid his head on hers. She nodded softly before sighing. She chose here words carefully before thinking, "Okay girl, it is now or never…"

"Uh… Kenric? I have something I need to tell you…"…

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That is it!! 9,868 words in this chapter including all of my remarks at the beginning and end of this! Whew, I think this is the longest one I have ever written. Anywho, chapter 7 is already in the works. Bye and review plz!!


	7. Level 7 Reasonings and Glitches

This story is going surprisingly well… I am very pleased with it… It is better than I had planned! Glad you guys are still reading! This story is in fourth place in my stories' popularity list for hits and fifth place for the number of reviews! Thanks again… time skips may happen once or twice during some chapters because it would take too long to make up anything unnecessary to fill in the gaps! Anyway on with the story! Also this chapter will not be as long as the previous one was, at least I hope it won't… they take forever to write…

Disclaimer: All of the characters and storyline mentioned, except for Dale Rasmussem, Nigel's parents, Dr. McKinsey Scott, Janice Thompson, and George these are my original characters, belongs to Vivian Vande Velde but the story idea is mine!

**Level 7 **

**Reasonings and Glitches**

"Uh… Kenric? I have something I need to tell you…" said Janine quietly. She felt Kenric lift his head and she instantly started to miss the contact. He stared down at her as she lifted her eyes to look at him.

"What is it, my queen?" asked the prince with concern in his voice. She gulped nervously.

"Well, you see, ah ha ha… I am… uhhh… pregnant…" she finally blurted out. The young prince blinked repeatedly. Then Kenric slowly licked his lips and Giannine sighed. The lip licking was one of Nigel's nervous habits; he did it whenever he was unsure or nervous. Giannine could not even begin to imagine which one of the two her boyfriend was at that moment. He hung his head after a moment and sighed. Giannine was about to become worried when he finally looked at her again and asked,

"Are you sure?" She nodded again. Nigel went silent again. After a moment, she saw a small smile make its way onto his face. He looked back at her with love-filled eyes before he murmured, "Wow… that's almost all I can say, just 'Wow'." Giannine finally giggled, mostly out of relief. For a moment, she had been afraid that he did not want the child. That of course meant that more likely than not that Nigel would not want a child in the real world. She laughed again and hugged him. He instantly returned the hug. Giannine sighed as she felt Nigel rub her back affectionately. He buried his head in the side of her neck and sighed softly. He pulled away after a moment and stared at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He shook his head and said,

"Nothing, I am just admiring you, that is all." Giannine automatically turned a soft shade of pink. Nigel just grinned. After a moment, he stood up and went inside, leaving Giannine completely confused. After another minute passed, he returned and gestured for her to stand before asking her if she wanted to take a walk. She smiled and grabbed his hand before standing up. She allowed him to lead her through a path in the trees surrounding the cabin. After walking for a few minutes, Kenric turned and asked,

"Why me?" Giannine blinked in confusion and stopped.

"What?" she blurted out; completely puzzled.

"I mean, why did you fall in love with me?" he asked quietly as a small blush formed on his face. Giannine stared curiously at her boyfriend. "What brought this on?" she thought. "Did Dale say something to him?"

"Well, I don't think that people can completely help who they fall for, ya know." said Giannine. Nigel shook his head and said,

"I don't think so, I have always heard people talk about things that attracts them to the people they love. So-"

"Oh, do you mean, what do I love about you?" said Giannine.

"Yeah, I mean, I am just plain old Nigel…" he said quietly. She smiled and continued to walk as she said,

"Well, I am sure that is true… I mean, after all, you are computer programmer, which just screams nerd, right?" said Giannine as she walked along with a dejected Nigel moving alongside her.

"You got that right…" murmured Nigel.

"You are not that strong of guy and a little on the skinny side…" said Giannine continuing on with this line of talking. Nigel nodded mutely. "You don't like confrontation… which would make you a wimp in some people's eyes… and when it comes to socializing, you are as meek as a mouse…" she stated, "Also, you are a stickler for routine and very predictable. Spontaneity and you parted ways years ago." Nigel was now a noticeable shade of red and starting to feel slightly sick to his stomach as he listened to his girlfriend read off all of his flaws one by one. She glanced over at Nigel and saw his blush.

"And you are as transparent as a window when it comes to emotions…" she said with a shrug. She looked back at Nigel and frowned when she saw how troubled Nigel's eyes looked. She then felt like kicking herself a hundred times as hard as she could. She had only meant to tease Nigel but had ended up putting her foot in her mouth instead. "Nigel," she finally sighed, "but out of all that stuff, do you know what one thing _actually_ bothers me about you?" He looked at her for the first time since the conversation had begun.

"What?" he asked softly although he was slightly intrigued about where this question was headed.

"The fact that you have it goin' on, but do not realize it because you have absolutely no confidence in yourself." said Giannine. Nigel stopped in midstride at her admission. His look of confusion and surprise told her that he did not understand at all. "So what if you are a computer programmer! Do you have any idea how hard it is to do what you do, in a year? I mean, Nigel that so called "hobby" of yours has made you one of the richest teens in the _world_! You own your own company! You probably have the most secure retirement in the entire U.S.! So what if that makes you a nerd! You are a filthy rich nerd!" Nigel promptly blushed again but out of pride rather than shame this time. But his own low self esteem caused him to still doubt his worth.

"But you said so yourself, I am not that strong and I am a little on the skinny side…" muttered Nigel. Giannine sighed explosively.

"I meant compared to other guys… Nigel that did not mean that you were not strong… I mean, you have some muscles and a nice six pack, might I add," she gushed before a blush appeared. Nigel caught that and grinned. He waved her on. "Plus, your strength comes from within you."

"Within me, huh?" said Nigel skeptically. Giannine nodded as they continued to walk.

"Yeah, you are very brave. I mean, you took on Dale to protect me even if death was a very real option for you. Do you know how many guys I know that are twice as big as you are but would turn and run at the first sign of trouble? I bet you right now, if we were in the real world with no weapons and we got cornered by some muggers, you would still try to protect me with just your fists! Am I right?" she asked looking at him pointedly.

"Sure baby, but…" he started. Giannine cut him off,

"No buts! Plus, I know what you are going to ask about! So you are not the size of a defensive linebacker but who cares, I don't! Wait, do you even know what one of those is?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes Giannine, I know what a defensive linebacker is! I do watch sports…" he sighed explosively. She grimaced and realized that she had stuck her foot in her mouth for the second time that day.

"Sorry, I was only teasing, but as I was saying, you may not be big but look at me! I am not that big either! You stand about an inch taller than me! Think about what would happen to me if you tried to hug me and you were the size of a defensive linebacker?" asked Giannine as she stared at him, although she was also keeping an eye on the path in front of them. Nigel thought about it and started to chuckle at the mental image of tiny Giannine disappearing in the bear hug of a huge and bulky Nigel. Giannine started to giggle but after a few moments she got serious again. "Trust me, Nigel, baby, you are just the right size to give me the best hugs! The only things I like more are your kisses…" she admitted with a smile. Nigel smiled also. "Plus, you are just too cute, so your being skinny does not really concern me."

"Cute?" mimicked Nigel with a grin.

"Yes, cute!" She said. "Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror?"

"Only long enough to check my appearance before work…" he admitted quietly. Giannine stared at Nigel incredulously.

"Oh-kay… Nigel, promise me something." said Giannine after a moment.

"Yes?" he said.

"Tomorrow, you do not _have _to work. It is Saturday. Take your time to dress and really look at yourself. Trust me, you will not be being conceited. I mean just look at yourself not drool over yourself. Okay?" she said. Nigel nodded but still looked unconvinced.

"Fine but… what about the part about me being a wi—"

"I did not say that you were one. I said that you would seem like one to _other_ people that is not including me. To be honest that makes my life easier. I do not have to worry that you would be ready to kill somebody on a whim, like if they looked at you wrong. DO you know how embarrassing that is?" Giannine rambled. Nigel laughed. "Just because you do not like confrontation does not mean that you will not or cannot fight, does it?"

"Of course not, if I have to fight I will, I just do not like unnecessary conflict." he said. Giannine saw him smile and was relieved to see that he was starting to feel better.

"Most people don't Nigel," She said nodding, "But I really do wish that you open up more a bit in public… you do not have to go crazy on me but you know, get out there and meet people. I would like to see my Nigel with at least one friend… ya know or at least an acquaintance that does not have to do with work. Because you are a great person, once someone gets to know you… I mean, you are smart, funny, and a great conversationalist! But most people would not know that unless you talk…" counseled Giannine.

"I-I know Giannine, I know… but it is kinda hard when most people assume that you either are a complete nerd, which automatically means that you are a dork… or the ever popular 'snobbish rich kid'." huffed Nigel indignantly. Giannine's eyes had widened in surprise at Nigel's admission. She gently reached out and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"You know, I did not think that you were when I first met you." She said.

"No, you thought that I was a middle aged, bald guy with glasses." Nigel said in a matter-of-fact voice. The only thing that gave away the fact that he was joking was the dancing sparkle in his lovely eyes. Giannine saw this and scoffed.

"No that is not what happened, Nigel! I thought that _you _were Kenric and I thought that your uncle was you! If that makes any sense…" said the queen sheepishly.

"Uh huh…" said Nigel with fake bored tone. Giannine scoffed again before crossing her arms and snapping,

"Well please excuse the poor confused girl, who had just woke up from a near-death experience at that particular point in time!" Nigel finally laughed as he paused and he gathered Giannine into his arms to hug her.

"I am sorry, I was kidding." He said as he released her. She pretended to glare at him but eventually gave in when he gave her a pleading, apologetic look that she could not ignore.

"You better be glad that I love you!" she pretended to grouse before she uncrossed her arms and smiled at him. He grinned.

"Okay, I will admit that I am not that bad of a person… but you cannot refute the fact that I am predictable…" said Nigel as if he were almost challenging her to prove him wrong.

"Well, of course you are when you run a company; your days are usually very structured because you are so busy! So, you would need to come up with a routine that would be most time efficient for you so, of course you would be super predictable. But I do not mind that you can not be spontaneous all the time since you always have time set aside for me in your busy day but a surprise or two here and there would be a nice change." admitted Giannine. Nigel mentally filed that little bit of information away for later.

"Okay, but what about—" started Nigel.

"Nigel, if you say 'but' one more time, I am going to kick you in yours, comprende?"

"Sí," He replied with a smile. Giannine just shook her head. "What about me being a window, though?"

"Oh that! You blush almost as much as I do, but I think it's cute! You have a big heart, my love, so you can't help but show it. I mean, I can see what you are feeling just by looking at the color of your eyes, the shades of gray change with your mood. Secondly, I know all of your little habits! So, see you are transparent to me because you are my love so, I should know you like that." said Giannine while sending him a loving look that was meant only for him and him only. The very same look that made his heart practically dance with joy, if it could. He could not help but grin.

"Giannine, I am your complete opposite but if you love me, who am I to argue with you?" Nigel said before giving a seemingly helpless shrug. Giannine giggled.

"We do complement each other nicely, don't we?" she said thoughtfully as she continued to walk.

"Huh?" asked Nigel. Giannine smiled.

"Yeah, I am spontaneous and you are predictable most of the time, so you remind me to have a little structure in my life so that my busy life does not get of hand because of all my spontaneity." said Giannine. Nigel's eyes widened as the light bulb went on in his mind.

"Oh yeah, and you remind me to take chances in life in order to move forward in life." He said. She nodded. "Also, your diverse and fun ways always brightens my pretty boring day. I mean, technology and computers are a hobby, but there are days that I want to scream because it seems like I have been doing the same thing all day for the past few days. But then you show up and completely rearrange my attitude, my prospective, and sometimes even my entire schedule! But I never mind, because I love excuses to see you and get out of the office. I mean, I am still a teenager…" he admitted. She giggled and moved closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder as Nigel wrapped his arm around her waist. After a few moments of silence, Giannine spoke up again.

"Hey, I have been wondering, how were you able to hear me? During the last moments of the battle, I mean."

"Oh, all mages can communicate telepathically. You were wishing for me to hear you and since your thoughts were directed to me, I could hear them." He said. "By the way, where did you learn that slingshot trick?"

"I used it to help Dusty fend off foxes and wolves that threatened the livestock." responded Giannine.

"Huh… that is a useful skill to have… so, you are pregnant… this is a challenge, I certainly never saw coming…" he said. Giannine just laughed.

"Most guys _never_ see it coming." teased Giannine. Nigel shot her a look that clearly said, 'Shut up'. Giannine just laughed again. But she instantly stopped as soon as she saw his scowl deepen. She gave a cry and ran off with Nigel following closely behind…

**Meanwhile in Dale's hideout…**

Dale had just come to a few minutes ago at the ring of his phone. He managed to lift a hand to grab the black device before lifting it from its cradle and putting it to his ear.

"Hello," said a dreary Dale. He was only half awake but his eyes went wide when he recognized the voice on the other end.

"Private, you better have some good news for me…" growled Captain Pythos. Dale was nervous.

"Umm… I have implanted the prototype into a suitable test subject but I am not completely through testing it yet." said Dale.

"Well, you are running out of time, Rasmussem, I need results. You have two years left! I want something tangible to work with by then! Good day!" huffed Pythos. Then the phone went dead. Dale slowly put the receiver back in its cradle and shook his head. So, his little brother had some fight in him after all. This little experiment could prove useful after all. His brother and his little toy proved to be excellent test subjects but he did not realize that his brother and that Giannine chick would catch on to his game so quickly and put up such a tremendous fight. He did not mind the resistance that made it all the more fun for Dale. Dale like challenges and bringing down his little brother and his girlfriend would be a worthwhile challenge. But there was a slight drawback to taking on this particular challenge: His brother's curiosity. Nigel was no fool and Dale knew this, if Dale kept at this experiment for too long his brother would eventually find out what he was up to. But on the other hand, Dale could use them as lab rats and use them to note any side effects other than the usual from the virus. "Alright, you will live little brother, for now…"

**A little while later at the Gaming Center…**

Nigel was slowly opening his eyes as he woke up from the game. He turned his head slightly to see if Giannine was awake. But he found that she was not just awake but sitting up and facing away from him. He slowly sat up and called to her but she did not answer. She was looking down. He slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side and stood. He walked around to Giannine's side of the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked. He sat down next to her and frowned in concern when he heard her try to stifle a sob. "Giannine?" He finally lifted her chin up with his hand. Her pretty face had tears running down them. Then his eyes happened to fall on something pink on her neck. He gasped in shock… the scars that she obtained from Dale's attack had appeared in the real world. Her once flawless skin now had four large claw marks on it, although they were a pale pink color that was easy to conceal. Nigel growled in disdain. He absolutely loathed his brother! No matter what Nigel did, his brother would always have the upper hand! He sighed softly and kissed the top of her head and held her. There was nothing more either of them could do… they were stuck in a game that neither one knew how to win…

**About three days later…**

Giannine was getting ready to head to work when there came a knock at her door. Her grandma was out and she was the only one there to answer the door. She sighed and laid down the brush that she had been using and walked to the front of the apartment. She looked out of her grandmother's badly colored drapes and gave shout of terror when she saw who was standing outside. She quickly shut the drapes and placed a trembling hand over her mouth. Dale? What did he want with her? Then a small piece of a conversation that she had had with Nigel came back to her.

…"_Giannine, I know you think that this is just a crazy spat between two brothers but there are things about Dale you don't know…"_

"_Like what?"_

"_He raped two girls and killed a guy at his old university that is why he was sent home. The school said if he left the school, they would convince the families not press charges against Dale!"… _

_He __**raped**__two girls…_

_He __**raped**__…_

"Ooooohhhh…" she moaned. She was frozen in place by fear, a deep paralyzing panic. Her entire body was shaking. She was so caught up in her fear that she almost did not hear Dale's taunting.

"I know you're in there doll face… I have been watching you since I met you and learned that you and techno freak had hooked up. I know your routine by heart, baby. Oh by the way, nice Victoria Secret Collection, especially that lacy black number, I saw it during my tour yesterday while you hanging out with techno freak." He sneered. She went white and stifled a sob. She remembered that she had gone to Nigel's that night to get help with some computer homework that she had for her computer class that was required for graduation. She had planned on staying over while Nigel's parents were out of town; she had packed everything but her brush, so she had stopped by the apartment to brush her hair and to get something to eat before work. She slowly backed away from the door.

She turned and went to her room. Each step was torture for Giannine, her feet felt like cement and her heart was beating wildly. She opened her bedroom door and looked in. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Her bed was still made and her room was still clean. Then her eyes landed on her dresser. She crept forward slowly. She reached her dresser after what felt like an eternity to her. She reached a shaky hand forward and pulled open the drawer slightly. She peeked inside and saw that her unmentionables had been rummaged through. But she got a really disgusting shock when she went to move one of the garments, her hand fell into something wet and sticky… the bastard! She let out a shriek of horror and disgust… Instantly the tears she had been fighting to hold back were gone. Her quivering body went rigid with indignation. She turned on her heel and practically stomped back through the apartment. She could hear Dale's sadistic laughter through the door. She wretched the door open, raised her sullen hand, and slapped Dale across the face in one fluid motion. She glared at the teen that was sprawled on the ground looking up at her with an angry yet shocked expression.

"How _dare _you! You are the vilest and most horrid person I have ever met! Leave! _Leave now!_" she practically hissed. Dale arched an eyebrow in amusement. Once again, Giannine Bellisario had surprised him. He knew that she would scream when she discovered how he had defiled her belongings, but what he had not suspected was that the discovery would anger her and not intimidate her like he had wanted. Well as people say, "There's more than one way to skin a cat…" He waited till she let her guard down and lunged for the girl but she was too quick, he missed by at least a foot and got a door in the nose for his failure. He cursed loudly.

Giannine stood a few inches from the door with her chest heaving up and down. The anger had started to disappear and the fear was starting to reappear. She heard Dale curse and she jumped when he started to bang on the locked door. Then she felt her heart drop into her stomach when she heard what sounded like a key sliding into a lock. He had a key to her apartment! She turned tail and ran to her room and slammed the door shut with a bang. She hurriedly locked it and scurried around to the other side of the bed. She laid her back up against the bed and pulled her knees up to her chest and fought not to cry as she thought, "Nigellll! Oh, if only we were in the game and he could hear me… Nigel… I need you… help me."…

**Meanwhile, in the Gaming Center…**

Nigel had almost fallen asleep at his computer but he jolted awake when a familiar voice called his name. "Giannine?" he thought. He jumped again when he thought that he had heard her call his name again. Nigel shook his head to try and clear it, thinking that he was just hearing things but a ball of ice had started forming in his stomach due to a feeling of apprehension. He decided to call and see if she was alright. He turned and looked at the digital clock on the wall. It read: 4:08pm. Giannine was probably at home getting ready for work. He picked up the desk phone dialed the apartment number. It rang and rang but only the answering machine picked up. He felt that ice ball get larger and his stomach get tighter. "Okay, Nigel, just calm down… maybe she left for work early… just call her cell phone." He thought trying to calm his nerves. He hung up the phone and dialed another number. He waited. The phone started to ring. It rang a second time and third time. Then there was a click and a scuffling sound before he heard sniffling and whimpering.

"Giannine?" he asked. She did not reply but he could still hear her whimpering. What was going on? Then he heard a banging noise and then a cold voice that sent his heart racing with fear.

"Come on, doll face, open the door…" he heard Dale say. Giannine continued to whimper but it sounded like she had not moved. There was more banging. Nigel could not stand it anymore.

"Giannine, baby, where are you? Giannine answer me!" he cried frantically. He needed to get to her before Dale did something horrible to her. She did not answer him. Then Nigel heard a grotesque splintering sound then a heavy thud. He heard Giannine scream. He listened horrified as a scuffle started. He heard another thud before he heard Giannine scream,

"NO! GET OFF OF ME! LET GO OF ME! NOOOO!" It sounded like they were wrestling on the ground. He heard her grunts and groans of effort as she tried to fight off Dale. Nigel was torn he did not know what to do, he did not want to hang up on Giannine and yet he wanted to get to wherever she was pronto. Then he heard another blood chilling scream from Giannine and a cruel laugh from his brother…

**Back with Giannine…**

Giannine fought in vain to try and pry Dale off of her but he was way too heavy. She was becoming increasingly frustrated and tears of fear began to run down her face. She started screaming again as Dale started to pull at her clothes. She began to fight even harder, now. She was not going to allow him to rape her, not easily anyway. He laughed at her attempts to escape but continued to pull off her scrub pants. She was growing desperate now as she felt the elastic slide down her hips. Dale practically leered at her with his cold, lustful eyes. Giannine had to do something and soon. So, she acted on instinct and… spit right in Dale's smug face. He hissed and jerked backwards.

Giannine did not waste any time and kneed Dale in his groin. She pushed him off as he double over in pain. She quickly scrambled to her feet as she heard him utter a slur between his groans of agony. She pulled up her pants as she stumbled to her nightstand that was a few inches behind and to the left of where they had been struggling and she quickly snatched the short crème lamp off of it, and then chucked it at the slowly recovering rapist. It hit him in the shoulder, which knocked him on his side again. She turned around quickly, and made a mad dash for the discarded cell phone, a pink razor, and scooped it off of the floor with her left hand. She rushed out of the door to her room and made a bee line for the front door as she placed the phone to her ear.

"Giannine? Giannine? Are you alright?" cried a frantic Nigel. She sped out of the door and to her left as she fled from Dale.

"Dale… somehow… got a key… to… my apartment! Now, he's after me! Nigel! You have help—" she was cut off in midsentence as she turned a corner but was grabbed by Dale, who had her by her auburn hair. He wretched the phone from her grasp, put next to his ear, and hissed,

"See ya soon, techno freak!" He then threw the phone against the nearby wall and grinned in satisfaction as it shattered to pieces. Giannine writhed futilely in his grip. He chuckled darkly before he pivoted on his right foot and slammed Giannine up against the gray-blue colored cement wall that he had just obliterated her phone on. She cried out in pain and then whimpered when he pulled violently on her hair. He forced her to look him in the eyes before he crushed his lips on her lush pink ones. She fell disgust twist and writhe in her stomach. She started flailing her arms in an attempt to try to push Dale away. But he was still too strong for her to take on by herself.

Finally, she managed to raise an arm and punch him right in the jaw. His head whipped to the side and Giannine gasped as she finally took in some much needed air. Her heart was hammering away in her chest and it nearly stopped when he lashed back out at her. He gripped her by the throat and slammed her against the wall again, causing another cry of pain to escape the girl. He then slapped her face, hard. Her head whipped to the side so hard and fast that the untouched side hit the wall and made a dull, hollow thudding sound when it connected. She screamed again and began to whimper pitifully as Dale pulled her hair viciously downwards and forced her to look up at him again. "If I were you, I would not try my patience, little lab rat," he growled dangerously, "because the only reason that you and techno freak are still alive is because I need test subjects… so do not TEST MY PATIENCE!" Giannine was visibly shaking like a leaf but she was still resilient about escaping from the madman with the cold gray eyes.

But then she heard the wind pick up… what was going on? She continued to struggle though, which prompted Dale to pull harder on her hair. Then he let go when the wind began to blow intolerably and he struggled to maintain his balance. Giannine felt an odd sense of déjà vu as she watched him struggle; this looked just like what happened in the game. She remembered what the dragon Dale looked like as he was being blown around by her wind gusts. Could this be the same thing…? After all, the wind had just picked up so suddenly. She decided for some crazy reason to see if she really was the cause of this sudden wind gust. She swept her hand in an upward motion and Dale flew off of his feet and into the ceiling of the balcony they were on. He gave a grunt of pain before he slammed back into the ground when Giannine was startled by his connection with the roof and lost control of the wind. He slowly struggled to his feet with a grunt.

"What the—" he started to mumble before the wind picked up again under Giannine's guidance and he went flying into the roof again. Then he lunged towards her after he came down a second time and she shrieked in fear before she threw up her hands defensively. This time Dale flew out away from Giannine rather than up and flew over the balcony rail. Giannine gasped in horror at what she had just done. She listened as Dale fell screaming to the ground below and then she winced at the soft thump as Dale's body connected with the ground. Then she heard a scream followed by the voices of frantic bystanders as they went to see about Dale. Because Giannine was still up against the wall, no one on the ground three stories below her could see her. She slowly and shakily turned around and retrieved the broken remains of her cell phone from the ground and walked woodenly back to her grandmother's apartment. She slowly wobbled into the living room and shut the door, although she did not lock it, she was too deep in shock.

"I killed him…" she whispered to no one before she lost consciousness and slumped to the floor…

Nigel heaved for air as he flew into the parking lot of the apartment complex. He had driven his car to about a block before the complex when a policeman had stopped him, claiming that no vehicles could enter or exit the apartments. So, he had left his car parked near the curb and ran the rest of the way to the apartments. His heart was working in overdrive as panic screamed inside him. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since he had last heard Giannine's voice before his brother had cut her off and disconnected the call. Was she alright? The sight that greeted him when he got there did nothing to ease his worry. There were people standing around in the parking lot and there were news crews on the scene. There was some police tape around an area near the apartments themselves. He slowly pushed his way to the front of the crowd and saw an ambulance and a few feet away, he saw two paramedics loading someone onto a stretcher. He rushed forward without even thinking and gasped when he realized that his brother was the one being loaded onto the stretcher. Part of him was relieved that it was not Giannine but the other half wanted to know what happened to his brother. But before he could reach the paramedics to ask, two police officers tried to stop him from crossing the barricade.

"Wait, that's my brother!" Nigel blurted out. The officers moved out of his way and he proceeded to the ambulance while another officer followed him. "What happened to him?"

"Apparently, it was a suicide attempt." said the officer with a slight shrug. "According to witnesses, the boy just came flying over the 3rd floor rail and hit the ground. The impact did not kill him but it injured him seriously." Nigel frowned slightly as he thought. This did not sound like his brother at all. Sadistic, yes… Suicidal, no… He furrowed his brows even more.

"Was anyone seen with him?" asked Nigel. The officer shook his head.

"Why? Are you thinking foul play?" asked the officer. Now it was Nigel's turn to shake his head no.

"No, it is just that my girlfriend lives here and I though that she might have seen something." answered Nigel. The officer nodded.

"Well, if you could just leave some information with me and some contact numbers for your folks, I will gladly let you go see your girl, Mr..."

"Oh… Nigel Rasmussem, sir." He said.

"Oh yeah, hey are you related to the guy that owns the gaming centers?." said the officer. Nigel shook his head no, it was a half truth, and gave him contact numbers for his parents and some other basic information before he turned and headed into the apartments. He dashed up the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him. He slid around the corner near Giannine's apartment and ran for the apartment that he knew was hers. He knocked on the door quietly but did not receive an answer. He decided to try the doorknob and was slightly surprised when it opened. He pushed it open slowly and drew in a sharp breath when the light from outside fell on Giannine's unconscious form lying in the middle of her living room floor. He rushed to her side and instantly noted the bruises on her face. He reached down and shook her and she shot up into sitting position with a scream of fright. Nigel instantly dropped to his knees and scooped the frightened woman into his arms and rocked her back and forth.

"Shhh… it's alright… I am here now…" he soothed as he held her. She started to weep softly.

After a few hours and Nigel had called Mackie to inform her that Giannine would not be coming into work that day, he was sitting by Giannine's bedside as she rested in her bed. She was still awake but lying on her side facing away from him. His hand rested on her shoulder. She was just laying there not making a sound unless she was crying. But all of a sudden, she shifted.

"Nigel, could you do me a favor?" she asked softly.

"Yes," he said.

"The top drawer, could you take it out for me?" she whispered.

"Sure…" he said as stood up and walked over to her dresser and pulled out the top drawer before asking, "What do I do with it?"

"Take it outside to the back of the building… and burn it." She said. Nigel started and gasped.

"What? I guess, what I mean is why?" sputtered Nigel with a look of discontent on his face.

"Why, because those clothes are no longer mine. They belong to 'him'…" she answered hollowly. Nigel frowned in confusion.

"I don't—"

"He marked his territory, Nigel. So, I want nothing to do with them any longer." She stated.

"Well, I cannot legally burn these Giannine but I can throw them out for you." he conceded. She nodded her fair head before she finally sat up, rubbing her back in the process. Nigel noticed this and placed the drawer on the floor beside the door before coming to her side again. "Let me see your back." She turned her back to him and pulled up the pale pink scrub to reveal a rather large blue and purple bruise covering most of her back. He growled fiercely as he looked at the result of his brother's violence. He let the thin piece of fabric fall back into place. She finally turned to face him as she asked,

"Did I kill him?" Nigel frowned in confusion.

"What?" asked Nigel.

"I pushed him off, it was an accident," she replied, "My powers, they shocked me when they activated and I couldn't control them."

"What? What powers?" blurted Nigel.

"My wind powers from the game." She said. Nigel was bewildered.

"Giannine, it is highly unlikely that you can have powers outside of the game." said Nigel. He sat down next the auburn haired beauty on the bed. Giannine knew that he would not readily believe her, so she had thought of a plan while she was supposed to be "resting". But first, she had to distract him.

"Nigel, why did you call?" she asked in order to abruptly change the subject.

"I-uh-well, I just started thinking about you for some reason… It was almost like I could hear your voice." He answered softly. Giannine was fighting hard not smile. He had heard part of her call for help. Perfect. She thought for a moment. The she watched as Nigel jumped as if he had been bitten or shocked by something. Nigel had been startled when a soft presence had entered his mind and then he thought that he had heard a voice call his name. Nigel looked at Giannine, but the girl was staring at him curiously but she was not speaking. Then he heard the voice again,

"Nigel…" Nigel nearly jumped again and Giannine started to giggle. He stared at her. Then voice spoke again and this time he recognized the voice.

"It is impolite to stare, Nigel." He frowned at Giannine before he tentatively sent a thought to her.

"How? I mean this is, it should be, impossible but here we are." He reached out and stroked her bruised face. She nodded before she opened her mouth to speak, saying,

"I don't know but why don't you try something out, I already accidentally used my powers and killed your brother…"

"You did not kill him but he is badly injured." said Nigel. Giannine nodded in relief.

"Well," prompted Giannine. Nigel held up his hands in mock defeat before he stood up. He closed his eyes and made a swift and surprising change from man to a beautiful golden retriever. Giannine stared open mouthed at her boyfriend. Even Nigel was in shock, he walked around in circles trying look at himself. Giannine giggled. "Alright, that is enough… I will turn around so that you can change back." She turned her back to him again and he changed back. While Nigel was putting his clothes back on, he thought. "Maybe there is a glitch in the virus that opens the mind and body to every experience rather than just the realistic ones… but why would Dale put the virus there in the first place…? Why did he attack us but let us live? It does not make sense…"

"Ok, I'm done, baby. Did Dale say anything to you about the game?" he asked. Giannine was about to shake her head no, when a piece of Dale's attack floated across her mind:

…"_If I were you, I would not try my patience, little lab rat," he growled dangerously, "because the only reason that you and techno freak are still alive is because I need test subjects… so do not TEST MY PATIENCE!"…_

She turned around to face her love very slowly and said,

"He mentioned something about a test subject…" Nigel frowned. "He is testing the virus? Why? Doesn't he already know what it is supposed to do? Wait! He might be looking for a glitch or a side-effect before he actually uses it for whatever crazy scheme he has! Therefore, he is using my new game, Giannine, and me as an experiment but now the new questions are: What is the virus really for and could our new found "powers" be the side effect he was looking for?" thought Nigel.

"Come on Giannine, I am sorry to drag you out in your condition but we have a lot of snooping to do before my brother gets out of the hospital… I would say we have two weeks at least." said Nigel as he headed to the door. Giannine pulled back the covers and swung her legs over the side and stuck her feet back into her cross trainers.

"How can you tell?" she asked as she joined him in the doorway as he picked up her soiled clothes.

"It will take about a week and a half for the wounds to heal; then the hospital will want to keep him for 3 days to a week for a psychological evaluation since this is the second time that Dale has "exhibited" suicidal tendencies. Plus, the hospital knows that Dale is crazy but my parents…" Nigel stopped in midsentence as he realized that he had said way too much. He muttered something about needing to leave before he headed out the door.

"Nigel? Wait! What are you talking about!" cried Giannine as she followed her now tight-lipped boyfriend out the door…

**Alright that was chappie 7! Thanks again for the support! The next one will be faster hopefully!**


	8. Level 8 Reestablishing Connections

This story is going surprisingly well… I am very pleased with it… It is better than I had planned! Glad you guys are still reading! This story is in fourth place in my stories' popularity list for hits and fifth place for the number of reviews! Thanks again… time skips may happen once or twice during some chapters because it would take too long to make up anything unnecessary to fill in the gaps!** Please read!! I have created a poll for the next story I should upload after the completion of my other fanfic, Strangers Like Us; please visit my profile and cast your vote. Instructions for voting are on my profile page. Thanks!** Anyway on with the story!!!

Disclaimer: All of the characters and storyline mentioned, except for Dale Rasmussem, Nigel's parents, Dr. McKinsey Scott, Janice Thompson, and George these are my original characters, belongs to Vivian Vande Velde but the story idea is mine!

**Level 8**

**Reestablishing Connections**

Giannine quickly followed her boyfriend to his car. As he put the key into the ignition Giannine spoke,

"Nigel, what did you mean by that comment back there?" She watched quietly as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. He let out a sigh before he muttered,

"I don't… You don't need to be involved." Giannine glared. What did he mean by she didn't need to be involved?! Wasn't she already?! That was it! She was fed up with his attempts to protect her by keeping things from her! The soreness of her body did nothing to help her rapidly darkening mood.

"Nigel, I don't know if you have noticed it, but I am involved! Dale has been stalking me since he found out that we were dating!" she hissed angrily. Nigel growled.

"What?!" he hissed.

"Yeah! I have been part of this little game before it got dangerous!" she sneered. Nigel was heated. This was becoming a nightmare! Giannine was pissed at him and hurt. His brother could be doing something illegal and had tried to rape his girlfriend. He was trying not to lash out at Giannine because she was not the one that he was angry with. But it was getting hard not to start yelling at her. She was prying for information that Nigel was not quite ready to tell. The truth was that Dale had been mentally disturbed, to put it mildly, since he was a child. But his family was in denial. There was no way that their _perfect_ little Dale was a sadist. The doctors told his parents that Dale needed to be evaluated by psychologists. But they refused. Although, as soon as Nigel tried to tell them what Dale was doing, all of a sudden, he needed a psychologist! All that the crazy woman told him was that he was just begging for attention! Really, who would purposely break their arm in _three_ places?! Nigel's anger become too much to handle and he had to pull over into the shoulder of the interstate that he was driving on. He turned off the car and laid his head on the steering wheel. So many terrible memories crept through his mind.

Giannine was very confused. Nigel was extremely quiet. But just a moment ago he had been growling and hissing. After about five minutes of just sitting and staring at the stretch of the road before them, she turned back to look at Nigel. His shoulders were trembling; she did not know whether or not he was trying to suppress anger or sorrow. She gently laid her hand on his thigh. He slowly lifted his head and turned to look at her. She gazed into his eyes and noticed the haunted look that she found there.

"Giannine, I have put you in so much danger… Dale, he's crazy, there is just no other way to put it." He rasped in a hollow voice, "He abused me physically for years, and then when I became indifferent to the pain, he started torturing me in other ways."

"Other ways?" parroted Giannine. He nodded slowly as he started staring at the floor again.

"He would torture me mentally and emotionally… did you know that he killed my best friend? You see, he would just frighten off my friends at first but Andy would not back down. So, he just killed him… I know where the body is buried. But the police will not believe me… I have a _mental instability _record! Who would not have some stupid mental instability record if they survived the shit I have been through! Huh?! Tell me Giannine… who?" moaned Nigel. Giannine felt her blood run cold at the thought of just how deep Dale's cruelty went but her heart was breaking for her boyfriend.

"Well," said Giannine with her voice thick, "then we need to make sure that he doesn't take another thing from you, yeah?" Nigel looked up at her, stunned.

"But—"

"What did I say about that word…" groused Giannine softly as a small smile made its way onto her face. Nigel sighed heavily.

"Giannine! That is the very reason that he tortures me because I am always forever… "in the way"! So, why should I incur his wrath by purposely getting in his way?!" cried Nigel.

"If you are so worried about making him mad then why are we in the shoulder in the middle of the interstate on our way to who-knows-where to dig up information on his crazy "plans"?!" argued Giannine. Nigel stopped in mid-rebuttal. Then he spoke again saying,

"I am not sure what I want to do! I don't want to get anyone else hurt and yet I am so tired of feeling trapped by him!" said Nigel hopelessly. Giannine was angry, disturbed, and wanting to do something to help Nigel. But what could she do? "Why did I have to be related to a sadist?!"

Sadist? Sadist… that was it!

"Nigel, Mackie's husband is a criminal profiler! I remember him talking about a crime once that involved a sadist. He said that sadists thrive on power, on control! So if you take away enough of Dale's control over your life, he will become disoriented so to speak and you can finally beat him at his own game… but the first step to breaking his control is to challenge it. That is way he keeps changing his tactics, he wants to maintain his hold on you for as long as he can and he will as long as you keep letting him. So challenge him Nigel and don't back down, no matter what." said Giannine although she knew what his response would be.

"But what if he tries to hurt you again…" mumbled Nigel as he looked up from the steering wheel. Giannine shrugged.

"Whatever happens will happen, Nigel. Since we discovered these new powers, it will be easier for the two of us to plot against Dale. Stop letting the fears that he invokes in you stop you from enjoying your life! Are you just going to stay curled up in your little ball until Dale says you can come out or are you going to take your life back?" challenged Giannine. Nigel still did not look up. After a moment he spoke again,

"Well… I know that Dale is pretty overconfident, because the cabin that I was traveling to is like his personal hideaway that he thinks that no one knows about. That is where I was hoping to find some information; I could sneak through woods as a stray dog so that no one would suspect that anything out of the ordinary was going on. Then I could check around the cabin and record any useful information I find but we can't touch the computer yet. I need to get covered access to the computer before we hack that computer because Dale is an expert hacker. He would be able to figure out if anyone has been on his computer that should not have. But I have created a program that allows me to hack into computer hackers' base computers through the ghost IP addresses that they use to hack other computers. I had to create it after some crazy players hacked our systems and downloaded a prototype game that nearly killed a woman due to glitches in the game." Giannine turned a deep red after that and said,

"Ya don't say…" Nigel was too busy rambling to hear her. (A/N: I am making a random reference to User Unfriendly, which is the novel by Vivian Velde that came before Heir Apparent. If you need info on the novel, check out Wikipedia they have an article on it!)

"In order to use my program though, I would need some of his IP addresses and the original IP address of the computer in the cabin. Then I could easily pick up a refurbished laptop and use it in a hotspot to hack his computer from anywhere in the city… if we are going to do this Giannine, we are going to have to make sure that if things get tough, we both have an individual escape plan. Because, truth be told, I cannot completely predict what Dale will do but we can make sure that we stay one step ahead of him." He said sounding more confident with each word he spoke. Giannine was glad to see her boyfriend was feeling a little more confident.

"How about you change now and then you direct me where to go?" said Giannine. Nigel nodded. The two teens switched seats and Nigel swiftly changed from man to a golden retriever again. Giannine gathered his useless clothes and threw them in the backseat. Then she reached over and buckled Nigel's seatbelt. She started the car and pulled back onto the road. Then with Nigel guiding her telepathically, after an hour or so, they made it to path in the woods that led to the cabin that was about a good 10 or 15 minutes away from the main road.

"Ok Giannine, I want you to backtrack to the Burger King about five minutes from here and get some food. Relax and take your time. I will call for you if anything happens or when I am ready to go." said Nigel telepathically. Giannine nodded as she reached across the dog and opened the truck's door and undid Nigel's restraint as her hand retracted from his side of the car. She leaned over and kissed the tip of his nose and said,

"I love you, Nigel. Please be careful and I will pick up something for you before I leave to come get you, okay?" Nigel nodded his canine head and leapt out the truck. Giannine closed the door and drove off. Nigel looked back after her for a moment before heading down the path. After nearly ten to eleven minutes of running, Nigel came upon the cabin. It looked old and abandoned. The logs looked wet and rotten, the windows were covered cobwebs and dust, but Nigel knew better. After scoping out the exterior of the cabin and making sure that there were no alarms or cameras, Nigel changed back to normal. He shivered slightly before muttering to himself,

"I really need to find a way to stay dressed after making a transformation." Nigel slowly made his way up to the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. He slowly slipped into the cabin and realized that it was a lot bigger inside then it was outside. He spotted one of his old partial immersion chambers hooked up to a computer in a corner. Nigel assumed that Dale used it to attack them in the game. Nigel had to admit his brother was crazy but clever. He continued to look about the cabin hoping to find something. Nigel noticed that there were about 5 different computers hooked up on one side of the room. All the computers had an odd emblem engraved on the side. The engraving was not that deep but it was deep enough to be noticeable. Nigel spied a printer in the corner on the table where the computers were. He also saw a pack of computer paper lying on the desk. He pulled a sheet of paper from the ream and held it up to the side of the computers. He pulled an artist's pencil from the cup holder on the table, turned the pencil sideways, and scribbled across the paper creating a black and white rough sketch of the emblem. He folded the paper and held it in his hands. He looked for any other noticeable clues before he placed the drawing in his mouth and changed back into a dog. He trotted back up the path and started walking back to where Giannine dropped him off. After a few moments, Giannine pulled back up and opened the door. Nigel dropped the paper on Giannine's lap and hopped into the back seat and made a swift change and started putting his clothes back on.

"You find anything useful?" asked

"Well, I know how Dale attacked us in the game, other than that nothing else, expect for the emblem I copied. Although I do know how we can buy us some time in the game." said Nigel.

"How?"

"Don't worry about it, just drive." said Nigel as he climbed back into the front seat. He hastily snapped his seatbelt and leaned back in the seat. He closed his eyes and concentrated. In his mind he was back in the cabin. He walked over to the partial immersion chamber and the covering on the machine seemed to disappear before Nigel's eyes. He could see all wiring and inner mechanics of the immersion chamber. Nigel reached into the wiring of the machines and touched the motherboard of the machine and it turned a bright glowing orange. Then Nigel did the same thing to the Internet uplink wires. Then he did the same to the CPU and hard drive. In reality, Nigel had melted the before mentioned parts with his pyrokinetic ability. Now Dale was stuck in reality for little while until he got the machine fixed or found a new one. This gave Nigel a rather large opportunity to do some major modifications to his game and some research on his brother's dealings. But for the moment he was going to relax and enjoy his food he thought as he started eating French fries from the bag between Giannine and him.

A few hours later…

Nigel was sitting front of his computer staring at the image that he had acquired while snooping around in his brother's hide away. He had scanned the image into his computer and was currently trying to match it to a person or organization. He had been at it for three hours now and still had no luck. After another national search turned up negative, Nigel extended the search to include the globe. He still received no hits from his search. He leaned back in his desk chair and placed his hands behind his head. What was he missing? It was something obvious, Nigel just knew it was. He continued to rack his brain. What had he not checked? He reached for his mouse again and brought up his image search again. The screen displayed the following information:

**Filename: **

**Match: **image

**Search Domain: **Public

**Region: **Global

Nigel stared at the screen long and hard then he realized something. He was searching the public networks only; he had not checked the private ones yet. So he changed the parameters of the search and pressed 'Enter'. After a few moments, a single hit popped on the screen:

_**Operation: SNAKE**_

What in the heck was Operation: SNAKE and what did it have to do with Dale? Nigel had no clue but he was already working on a way to find out. He closed his personal search engine and shut down the computer connected to the game. He then unplugged the hard drive tower and locked it in a special cabinet. He then removed the actual hard drive that was used for the game and hooked it back up to the monitor and the immersion couch. Then he gathered his things and left the testing lab. He walked to his office and pulled up his email. He logged in and typed a decoy message to a recently transferred software tech that used to do bug checks for Nigel. Ricky was his name and he also happened to be on of Nigel's oldest living friends. Andy had been Ricky's younger brother, he knew the truth about what happened to Andy but he did not hold it against Nigel… but he did hold a grudge against Dale. He made sure to send a copy of the email to himself to make it look official. Basically, the message said that the bug was found and removed, which meant that the testing could continue on the new game. This message would sure catch Dale's attention and in return Nigel would get the ghost IP address that he needed to hack Dale's computer with. He grinned as he clicked the send button. After he was done, he turned off the light switch and flipped on another switch before he walked out.

As he made his way out of the building he called Giannine to see if she was feeling better. She was staying with Mackie and her husband since she did not feel safe in her apartment anymore. She said that the police had come by and questioned her about the incident with Dale but otherwise she was fine. She was still a little rattled by the incident. Nigel decided to go by and see Giannine before he went home. She had given him the directions and he was five minutes away from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Scott. McKinsey answered the door and greeted Nigel with an enthusiastic,

"Hey Nigel, how are you?" Nigel grinned and said,

"I'm good." McKinsey led him deeper into the polar of her home, where Giannine and her husband Barry were waiting for them…

**The Next Day…**

Ricky Dunn was performing another sweep of the new game at Nigel's request after his boss and friend called from a restricted number. He did not see anything out of the ordinary in the codes. But after Mr. Rasmussem mentioned that his brother was up to no good again and he needed someone else looking out for anything strange, he agreed to check the game. He had not seen anything out of the ordinary. He decided to do one last check before he called Nigel to confirm that there was nothing out of the ordinary that Ricky could see. But as soon as he started scanning codes he noticed a stray string of code that made no sense. He corrected the syntax and continued his scan but by the time he had returned to the top of the code, the same string was there. Ricky blinked. He knew for a fact that he had fixed that code already. But he shrugged and erased the code and was about to save all of his work when the code changed right before his eyes. Then to his surprise and mild horror, the computer began to write its own code. As string after string of code appeared on the screen, Ricky shakily pulled out his cell phone and a sheet of paper with his boss's new number on it…

Nigel was currently sitting in his office pulling the IP address from a computer hack job from the night before. He was staring pensively at his screen. He had not expected Dale to respond to his decoy so quickly. He had come into his office to discover that someone had indeed hacked his computer. But the only problem was that Dale was still in the hospital. Who hacked his computer and why? He finished gathering all the addresses and ran them through an identification program provided to him by the government. The program was used to track money dealings, company intelligence, and monitoring maintenance issues. Nigel entered the addresses into the program and started the search sequence. He wasn't too surprised when no known computers showed up in the public sector search. He just reset the parameters of the search to include the private global sector as well. When he ran the search a second time, he was shocked to see that the computer still did not show any results. That was impossible; the only computers that do not have an IP address are non existent computers. Before he could dwell on this ever-growing mystery any further, however, his pre-paid cell phone rang. He had bought the device as a precaution against Dale discovering any of his knowledge about the new game or about his new abilities. Nigel did not remember seeing any recording equipment in Dale's cabin but who knew what kind of software Dale had on those computers. He finally reached to his left and answered the shrill device before putting it to his ear.

"Nigel speaking," he said absent-mindedly.

"It's Ricky, boss, you need to get to the testing lab quick… there is something you have _got _to see…" said Ricky. Nigel frowned. Could Ricky have found the Hydra hidden within his game?

"Okay, I will be there in about three minutes, I need to make another phone call and I will be with you ASAP." replied Nigel. Ricky voiced his consent and hung up. Nigel then dialed another number and got an answering machine. He left a message and quickly made his way down to the testing lab. He was greeted by a rather pale faced Ricky Dunn. "What's going on, Ricky?" Ricky did not say a word but instead pulled Nigel over to the computer screen. Nigel stared at the screen in awe for a moment. Then his brain kicked into overdrive to try and decipher the phenomenon that was taking place before his eyes. The computer was _writing_ its _own_ code. Why? How? Nigel was never really invested in the search for artificial intelligence, too many moral issues. He preferred just entertaining people and making them happy. But artificial intelligence was the only thing that even could partially begin to explain what he was seeing. He asked Ricky if he checked to see if there were any hackers in the system. He said yes and that he had found nothing. Nigel had an idea floating through his head. He went to another computer and booted it up. The computer was wired up on a trolley and he rolled it over to the other computer and hooked the two computers together. On the screen of the codeless monitor a prompt box appeared. He had used this device one other time and that was when Giannine had been stuck inside Heir Apparent. He had used it to contact her in real game time, in order to warn her about the malfunctioning game. Nigel typed in a name and waited. Then a response appeared on the screen:

_Who is there? _Nigel responded.

_Nigel Rasmussem, who am I speaking to?_

_Prince… Kenric. _Nigel frowned.

_Very funny. Prince Kenric is character I created for my games._

_I do not find this very amusing, either, Nigel. I am talking to thin air. _Nigel almost passed out at that response. Nigel turned shakily to Ricky and said,

"If he answers this question correctly, Ricky, we might have a huge problem on our hands." Nigel typed one last question into the prompt box.

_When is your birthday?_

_October 17. _Nigel was stunned. He had answered his question correctly. Nigel figured that the computer had no really concept of birthdays or even actual holidays because Nigel did not put them into the new open ended format. He figured that if he asked "Prince Kenric" when his birthday was, one of two things would occur, either the computer would inform Nigel that it had no real answer for that or if it were a person trying to yank Nigel's chain, they would have made up a date. But Kenric had responded with the exact date that Nigel had conceived the initial idea for the Prince Kenric character. Only Nigel knew that information, since he had never written it down on paper or discussed it with anyone. Heir Apparent was his brainchild so to speak. He designed everything in that game himself. But this led Nigel to another question: How did Kenric know his birthday? Nigel thought and thought. Then it hit him… the virus. Maybe the virus did not only open up Nigel and Giannine's minds to the cyber world within the game but caused the game itself to gain a sense of self from the users thus unintentionally creating AI. This situation was becoming more and more confusing as the days wore on. It was starting to worry Nigel just a little…

**Meanwhile…**

After her grandmother returned home and Giannine told her what happened; her grandmother decided not to take any chances and moved out the same day. Thankfully, her grandmother knew the landlord very well and he was willing to help them move their necessary belongings to another set of apartments that he owned. The other belongings were left in the apartment and the landlord had the locks changed. The new apartments that that they were staying in were very spacious and near the bus stop, which made it easier for Giannine to get to work after school. Also it was it was at least 15 minutes from where she used to live. She was currently rushing about trying to get ready for work because she had to take another shower after she discovered that her time of the month had managed to sneak up on her again. Her cycle had always been weird. Some months it would be two weeks late, other times it was just a week late or even a week early. Giannine was sure that when it came time for her to start a family, it was going to be nearly impossible for her to have kids without some type of scientific intervention.

Finally at 4:15pm, she managed to make her way onto the bus to head to work. She tried not to dwell on what happened yesterday too much but it was hard. At the most random and inopportune moments, Dale would pop into her head. Even as she sat on the bus alone, she still shuddered as Dale's sneering face flashed in her mind's eye. That was why she was going to work, even though the night before, Nigel and Mackie had pleaded with her to stay at home and rest. But she was still terrified of Dale and of being alone. When she told them this, Mackie was nice enough to open her home to Giannine for as long as she needed. She also assured Giannine that Barry worked from home and would be around if she needed him for the majority of the day. The offer was very tempting but Giannine could not bear the thought of something happening to Mackie's family because of her problems. So, she politely declined and decided that best way for her to remain safe until her grandmother returned from work and not lose her mind to paranoia, was to return to work the next day. Mackie only let her return after she made Giannine promise not to do too much strenuous activity for the next couple of weeks.

She had to put on a vast amount of concealer to cover the bruises on her face but she put on a smile as she neared the building. She had to go into pretending that nothing was wrong, although her life seemed to be spiraling out of control at the moment. She went into the work room and went through her normal ministrations before heading off to see about her patients. Most of her patients did not notice a change in Giannine, or they did not bother to mention that they had noticed, expect for George and Janice. She hated having to lie to them but things were just too complicated for the young woman to explain. So she told them that there were some issues going on with Nigel's family and that it was bothering Nigel a lot, thus in turn making her worry. Surprisingly, Janice reassured her that everything was going to be fine. By the time her shift had ended, she was definitely in higher spirits. As she was leaving, she was surprised to see that Nigel's car was parked outside and that Nigel was waiting on her. She got into the car and even as she opened her mouth to ask, Nigel began talking,

"Some interesting developments have happened today." Giannine frowned.

"What kind of developments?" 

"Well, first off someone from the CIA hacked my computer." Giannine's mouth dropped as she breathed,

"No way…"

"Oh yes, I had a friend of mine that worked in the cyber division of the government trace the IP addresses for me…" said Nigel. Giannine finally managed to shut her mouth before she asked another question,

"What would the CIA want with you?"

"I have a theory; I think it has to do with the virus that my brother created." He replied. Giannine's brain went into overdrive.

"Maybe, they think it may be a threat to security, like you do." She said. He nodded empathically.

"I would have thought the same thing, Giannine, but I found something that made me believe otherwise." He said quietly, "Do you remember the image I copied off of one of Dale's computer monitors?" She nodded again and gestured for Nigel to continue. "It was the symbol for a covert military-intelligence combined operation. They were using illegal and sometimes unethical methods to train and create better soldiers. They believed that the only way for the US to remain a superpower was for it to create an unstoppable army. They were heavy believers in military superiority and might. After Internal Affairs got wind of the situation, they had the operation scraped and most of the information regarding the operation burned."

"Well then, how do you—" Giannine started. Nigel cut her off,

"Know all this? Easy, I hacked into Internal Affairs at the CIA." said Nigel. Giannine's face automatically transformed from curiosity to a horror stricken.

"Are you CRAZY, they are going to be on top of you like rabid dogs… they'll…they'll…" But Giannine was effectively silenced when Nigel took his right hand off the steering wheel and clapped it over her mouth.

"I used one of the IP addresses that hacked my computer last night. They will be running in circles. And secondly, nobody can see the information on my computer because when I leave my office I switch my internet and network connection to another hard drive tower. They did not find anything interesting or _important_ on it." He said simply as he pulled his hand away. Giannine glared at her suddenly very gutsy boyfriend but she decided to let it go.

"So, where are we going?" asked Giannine as she stared back out at the road.

"Back to my brother's cabin." He responded. Now Giannine was very confused again. "Why are we going there again?" she thought to herself. "I am going to use to the IP addresses I got earlier to hack Dale's computer. It was starting to get a little dark outside. Giannine was worried that Nigel would not be able to see.

"But will you be able to see at all?" she asked, finally giving voice to her concern.

"Maybe I should clarify what I meant. I am going to use my telekinetic abilities to hack Dale's computer from the Burger King near it." Nigel explained. Giannine nodded, accepting his answer. The couple drove in silence until they reached the previously mentioned restaurant. They both climbed out of the car. Then Giannine called to Nigel before they moved away from the car.

"What is our cover?" she asked. Nigel gave her a confused stare. "We can't go into the restaurant and have you practically faint at the table without drawing a bunch of attention to ourselves." Nigel slapped his forehead, she was right. But he had no idea what to do. He could pretend to have been driving for a long time and had stopped for a bit to eat and rest… that wouldn't work… that is what rest stops were built for. He looked over at the love of life to see that she, too, was in deep thought. "I know!" she suddenly exclaimed making Nigel jump. She walked around the back of the car and touched Nigel on his back. All of a sudden, Nigel felt all the air leave his lungs. He tried in vain to draw air into his lungs but it always flew right back out. Giannine's voice drifted into his ears, "Trust me…"

Nigel continued to choke and sputter until he finally started to feel light-headed, then his vision blurred, and he almost lost consciousness. But then his lungs finally managed to pull oxygen into his body. Even as he gulped air into his sore lungs, Giannine came around, supported him, and led him towards the entrance. Nigel still felt light-headed and he was now feeling slightly nauseous. He let his temporarily crazy girlfriend drag him through the door. Then she slowly led him to a table near the door and he slumped over the table, praying that his head would stop spinning. He could hear Giannine conversing with the cashier. He could hear the words: "blood sugar" and "diabetes" as well as some other words but he had tuned them out then he heard the cashier ask,

"Should I call an ambulance?" Giannine told her no and that he would be okay after he ate something. Nigel realized that he was letting his time slip away and finally shut his eyes and let his mind wander back to the cabin. Now, in his mind he was back inside the cabin and it was nearly pitch black. He found the light switch and turned it on. He then went over to the table with the five computers on it. He studied each of the computers' keyboards carefully until he came to the computer on the very end. The keys were well worn and some of the letters were missing or partly worn away. He looked at the hardware tower to see that it was still on. He reached down and moved the mouse. The screen instantly came to life. There was an email on the screen. Apparently Dale had been planning to finish the email and send after he had finished off Giannine. Nigel shuddered at that thought. The email was addressed to a Captain Pythos…

_Sir,_

_As I explained on the phone, I have implanted the virus into one of my brother's games and I am monitoring the reactions of some key game testers. I have not found anything promising that would support your research team's belief in the use of cyber technology to train our soldiers more thoroughly and quickly but… I have seen from two tests that assassinations and attacks could be executed from a computer. As for the training, it will require more time and subjects and a more controlled environment._

Apparently, Dale had more to say but Nigel had seen enough to piece together the whole story. Apparently, Dale had been recruited by this illegal group to create some virtual reality trainer for the soldiers that would allow for them to feel the actual training without having to invest a lot of time or money into real life drills. Or even create mindless killing machines by using a computer to control their minds. Dale must have discovered a code that produced the 'Hydra' effect and used it to turn his entertainment equipment into a weapon. Nigel was pissed. He had spent years toiling in secret on the first immersion chamber. He was not going to let his brother steal another thing from him, not without a fight. Everything around Nigel began to glow orange and he felt the ground begin to shake. He was confused for a moment but then he realized that it was Giannine shaking him awake. He groaned as actual light enter his eyes and he struggled awake. He smiled weakly at her as he sat up and wearily reached for the food that was before him. Both of the teens sat in silence as they ate, expect for Giannine when she would ask him if he was feeling better. He would nod and continue to eat. Nigel knew how high the stakes were now and he knew that they needed to getaway for a while before or as soon as Dale got out of the hospital so they could plan their strategies without being overheard by Dale or anyone that might be working for the same organization. Luckily, Giannine's Spring Break started on the next Monday…

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**That's it! So sorry for the delay! I have been very, very busy and such but I will try to do better. Please remember to vote and I hope everyone has had a wonderful New Year! Thanks! **

**~WK989**


	9. Level 9 Crossroads

So, I have had this written for a while. I was waiting until I had a little buit of chapter 10 written before I posted this. I was hoping that this would keep the wait time down between chapters. But, I still apologize for the lack of updates; life and lack of inspiration have made writing very difficult! But I am back. Thanks again for your support… time skips may happen once or twice during some chapters because it would take too long to make up anything unnecessary to fill in the gaps!** Please read! I have created a poll for the next story I should upload after the completion of my other fanfic, Strangers Like Us; please visit my profile and cast your vote. Instructions for voting are on my profile page. Thanks!**

**So far the results are:**

**Naruto: 0**

**Kingdom Hearts: 3**

**Stranger's Like Us sequel: 20**

**YUGiOh!: 0**

**Surprise Us: 7**

Anyway on with the story! First, I noticed I made a huge info mistake. The book makes it seem like no one was really certain what Nigel looked like, given that Giannine did not recognize him at the end of the book. Hence her mix up involving Nigel's uncle and Nigel. I had someone recognize Nigel in chapter 7, but this has been fixed. This chapter is going to delve more into the Rasmussem family's relationships. Also, Nigel and Giannine's relationship changes and they learn just how dangerous this game of cat and mouse is. Also, I am also almost through with the first chapter of a two shot for this story universe that is going to tell the Heir Apparent story from Nigel's POV and the aftermath of Heir Apparent from both Giannine and Nigel's POV. Look for it soon!

Disclaimer: All of the characters and storyline mentioned, except for Dale Rasmussem, Nigel's parents, Dr. McKinsey Scott, Janice Thompson, and George these are my original characters, belongs to Vivian Vande Velde but the story idea is mine!

**Level 9**

**Crossroads**

**A few days later…**

Nigel had initially come to his parents' place to discuss the possibility of making Giannine his wife. But when he had gotten there, he walked into a major argument. After waiting a few moments to see if the verbal altercation would come to a close, he decided to leave. Lately, he had noticed that there was a slowly growing tension between his mother and father. For the last two days, there were verbal arguments between the two of them. But this really did not surprise Nigel. They always had arguments when Dale got himself into "incidents", like his current "suicide attempt". It almost gave Nigel hope, because in his mind wanted to believe that at least one of his parents saw that Dale really did need help. Nigel just sighed and shut the door. He walked down the stairs leading from his parents' house and walked to his car. He unlocked it and got in.

As he sat in his car, he pulled a velvet box from beneath the passenger seat and opened it. Inside of the box, there was a ring. The band was made of white gold and there were princess cut emeralds and blue topaz gems in the band, three of each color in an alternating pattern starting with an emerald. The words "Queen of my heart" were engraved on the underside of the band. The ring was simple in design, yet strikingly beautiful. The ring reminded him of his girlfriend. She was not a magazine cover model, but Giannine was beautiful in a simple yet very strikingly unique way. He had been walking around in downtown New York after a regional staff meeting earlier in the week and passed a store with the very ring he was holding in his hand, in its window. He knew it was perfect, and did something a little spontaneous. He went into the store and bought the ring right then. He knew Giannine's ring size because he had seen her write it on an order form for her class ring. He had bought the ring on Friday. He had had the ring for about a day now. He had been racking his mind to try and come up with an interesting way of proposing to Giannine. All week along her words from their walk in St. Jehan replayed over and over in his mind.

… _I do not mind that you can not be spontaneous all the time, since you always have time set aside for me in your busy day, but a surprise or two here and there would be a nice change… _

He really wanted to surprise her and let her know how much she really meant to him. This needed to big and loud, unlike anything he had ever done before. He had realized over the last few hours that sealing the deal between Giannine and himself was one of the most harrowing tasks that he had ever faced. He was not sure if he was ready or worthy enough for that type of commitment, but unfortunately with Dale lurking about, time was not a luxury for his lady love or him. He knew Giannine was something special and he did not want to lose her to anyone else. He also knew that she was in this relationship with him for the long haul, because when all of the mess with Dale started hitting the fan, she did not back down or run away. In fact, she stood up to and challenged Dale, which was something that had taken him a while to do.

He closed the ring box up and put it away again. He started up his car and drove off. As he was driving, he toyed with the idea of proposing to Giannine in the game. Well, he was going to have to eventually, because he was going to have to marry her in the game anyway. So, as he worked out various ideas in his head, an ingenious one struck him. He raced back to the gaming center and got out of the car. He would spend the next few hours working on his huge surprise for Giannine.

Finally, he finished putting the last few touches on his gift for Giannine. As he hung up the phone, he looked down at his desk and nearly laughed out loud. His desk could not be seen due to the thousands of invoices, notes, and payment confirmations. It had cost him a few favors and few thousand dollars but it was complete. Giannine was about to get the biggest surprise of her life. Now, the only question was would she accept it? He had just called her a few moments ago and asked her to come over to play the game for a bit since he had gotten a little bored and was still worried about her. He began to gather up all of the materials and receipts. When he finally managed to organize the papers on his desk, he stored them all in a locked file cabinet in his office. He then left his office headed to testing area to wait for his girlfriend.

**With Giannine…**

Giannine was staring out of one of the bus's windows, lost in thought. She was mildly curious about what Nigel had planned. He sounded unusually excited on the phone. If she was honest with herself, to her he sounded just as excited as he did when he first showed her the game. This made Giannine feel a lot better, they both have been feeling stressed from the mess with Dale and the constant questions from her grandma and friends, the police, and Nigel's parents. Nigel's parents… they had a strange effect on Giannine. She remembered how she used to become jealous when she saw whole families together during festivals and fairs. But sometimes, after she observed the antics of the Rasmussem family, she was glad she lived with her grandmother. Sure she was a little absent-minded, but she always had Giannine's best interests at heart and was always available. Also, she was an only child; there was no shadow she had to crawl out from under.

Poor Nigel on the other hand… He had Dale's shadow choking him. First, Dale was also a computer prodigy, but he was also good at math. He could have probably worked as an engineer for any company in the world after graduating, but he got kicked out of school. Nigel was a whiz at numbers and computers, too. But he could not hold a candle to Dale, who in their parents' eyes had set the bar impossibly high. Nigel excelled at the same subjects that Dale did, but Dale had always done better. Nigel was an honor graduate, Dale was valedictorian… Nigel graduated at 17 with generous scholarships… Dale graduated at 16, with a full ride to Columbia University… Nigel was more creative than Dale and created lots of software and technology, but his progress was largely ignored… Dale got patents, most of which were stolen from Nigel and others, and pats on the back. Then on top of that the second son was mostly ignored, because the parents were constantly trying to keep up with the older one.

Even when Nigel had started his own business behind his family's back and made it a multi-million dollar and international empire, Dale was getting a _real _degree, or that's what Nigel's parents' behavior seemed to say, especially his father's. She really could not say what his mother's thoughts were on the matter because she usually did not have much to say about anything. But when she did speak to Giannine, she would sing Nigel's praises. This brings about the second problem, Nigel's father was a slave driver, but he was a nice man for the most part. He was constantly pressuring Nigel to leave the company in someone else's hands and finish his education, insisting that he did not want an "ignorant" son. The first time Giannine had overheard one of those conversations between the two of them, she almost stormed in the room to ask if Nigel's father was off his rocker. Nigel was one of the smartest people she knew, she did not even think the word "ignorant" was even in Nigel's vocabulary.

Also, the relationship between Nigel and Dale had always been unhealthy, although that adjective did not do that situation justice. The matter was only made worse by the denial that her boyfriend's parents had in regards to the mental health of their eldest son. Giannine had actually started talking with Mackie, in confidence, about it. She said that it sounded like Nigel's parents were afraid of admitting that their poster child was flawed or that they had failed as parents, in his father's case probably both. Therefore, it was easier to say that they had a younger son that was frustrated by and jealous of his older brother's accomplishments, so he acts out to get attention. This was fairly normal in families that have more than one child, where it is easy to ignore a child unintentionally. Mackie also said that would be easier for everyone to swallow than admitting that one child might be a psychopath. This situation, of course, left Nigel open to Dale's and his father's, unintentional, abuse.

But Nigel's personal life aside, she was looking forward to playing the game without having to continuously look over her shoulder. She missed relaxing with her "half-brothers" or just strolling through the kingdom and chatting with the subjects. Plus, she just missed spending time with Nigel. She finally reached her destination and stepped off the bus. She waved at the receptionist and said hello.

"Hi Ms. Bellisario, or should I say the future Mrs. Nigel Rasmussem?" she teased. Giannine stopped short and blushed furiously.

"Ok… what brought this on?" she asked as she tried to will her red cheeks back to their original color. The receptionist winked roguishly and said,

"I never reveal my sources…" After seeing the put out look on Giannine's face she added, "Oh alright, it is just obvious that the boy is in love with you. I have worked at this establishment during both of its lifetimes and…"

"What do you mean both of its lifetimes?" asked Giannine.

"It used to be an old movie theater, but the original owner declared bankruptcy and left. Nigel bought the place a few months later and added on to it later as the company grew. But as I was saying, I have never seen the boy date until you came along. It is obvious that he loves you, then when you add up the time that the two of you have been together… it is only a matter of time before he asks you!" the receptionist gushed. Giannine could not help rolling eyes and chuckling. She waved the receptionist off and continued on to her initial destination, the testing lab. When she got there Nigel was waiting on the immersion couch for her. She went and sat beside him, leaned over, and kissed his check.

"Hi love," she said. Nigel repeated her earlier actions and responded with a hello. He then gave her a soft one armed hugged. She went to her side of the couch and laid down. After a few moments, she was sitting inside the center of the maze garden outside of the castle in St. Jehan; she had started cloud watching during their last session. They had returned from visiting Orielle and Wulfgar late in the day. Kenric and she joined the queen dowager, Grimbold, Abas, and the rest of the castle for dinner. Then they retired to Kenric's room for the night. Since the ale incident, sleeping in the same bed had become a habit for the couple. Despite sharing a bed frequently, neither of the teens could bring themselves to explore the situation that led to Janine's current condition. They were still a little modest when they were sober. Janine had risen early the next morning and had taken to cloud watching while waiting for the others to rise. After a few moments, the young Queen heard footsteps behind her. She turned slightly and smiled softly at Kenric, who looked like he had just risen from sleep.

"G' morning…" he mumbled as he plopped down on the grass beside her. Nigel was not a morning person. It seemed that it was an aspect of the genius's personality that stuck with the young genius in the game. She loved getting up in the morning and was usually the first to get going in the morning. It usually took Nigel at least an hour to fully wake up. Janine chuckled softly as Kenric laid his head on Janine's lap and proceeded to doze in the early morning sun.

"_Good _morning to you, too, how can you be sleepy now? A few minutes ago, you were wide awake." she said as she began threading her fingers through Nigel's midnight hair. He hummed in sleep addled satisfaction. "If either of us should be tired, it should be me!"

"I was in a deep sleep when the game was saved, so I woke up feeling groggy and sleepy. End of story…" he muttered without opening his eyes. Janine giggled and Kenric smiled softly in response. Giannine stop stroking his hair and began to stroke his face slowly. He looked so relaxed in that moment, he actually looked his age. Due to his job requiring business attire since he started working as an "actual" CEO after he graduated instead of loitering behind the concession stand during the week, he often looked older than his nineteen years. He had been looking really old lately due to stress. After a few moments, he grasped the hand that was stroking his face. Then he brought it to his lips and began to slowly kiss it over and over in various places. She smiled at his sweet gesture. She was about to ask her lover another question, but when she opened her mouth… she belched loudly. She quickly muttered an "excuse me" before hiding her face in her free hand. Nigel laughed loudly as he started to sit up. He gathered Janine in his arms and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Stop laughing!" Janine whined. This only caused Kenric to start laughing again. This time Janine socked the prince in the shoulder.

"Ow! That hurt!" Kenric cried. Janine just stuck out her tongue. "Really love, belching is not something to be embarrassed about, it is quite normal at this stage. Or at least that was what the books said… I am glad we live in the modern world, little one, there was way too much guess work in medicine during this time period."

Nigel and Giannine had started looking over a bunch of pregnancy books once they had time alone after they first exited the game but had not had a chance to pursue more knowledge after the incident with Dale. They usually looked at the books in the very back of the public library to keep out of sight of nosy gossips. They definitely did not want people to see them looking at books like that. The local rumors would be vicious. Thankfully, Nigel was not well known currently; even though his technology was.

But the company was putting more pressure on Nigel to make a public appearance before the end of the month. No pictures of him had ever been released and Nigel's reputation was that he was a brilliant, eccentric recluse. Some even speculated that he was an old man. When Giannine had heard that rumor, she had almost died laughing. Of course, she did not correct them. One, no one would believe her and two; she had enough of fame after the CPOC incident. People had hounded her forever about who Nigel really was and what he looked like. They had followed her to her apartment and to school. Finally, her grandmother had to threaten to get a restraining order. The hype died down three weeks later. That had been the longest three weeks of her life. She could not imagine having to do that for the rest of her life… but if Nigel asked her to be present for the rest of _his_ life than she would grin and bear it.

But she was sure that the world would become a media circus once the fact that Nigel Rasmussem was actually nineteen and very handsome became public. Then to make matters worse, Nigel was one of the 10 richest new entrepreneurs, specifically he and his company was worth 17.8 billion globally. One day she was glancing at magazines in a grocery story and saw the list being advertised. She grew curious and peeked. She almost had a heart attack when she saw Nigel's name in the number 10 spot. There was not a picture of him shown, thankfully. She bought the magazine and showed it to Nigel, he just groaned in response. He really wasn't an attention seeker; he did not mind being recognized for his accomplishments, but he preferred being in the background. Giannine did not mind that Nigel was doing well; she did mind, however, how public her life would become once Nigel went public. She was his girlfriend of almost 2 ½ years; they were going to want to know all about her and her past. They would find out that her dad was practically non-existent and that her mother was more interested in globe trotting than raising her daughter. Then they would comment about how she would be not enough good for Nigel, because she was not used to high class society and came from an "unstable" home. She must have made a face at some point during her musing, because Nigel was now staring into her face curiously.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Giannine looked up at her boyfriend and was set to say yes, but her emotions had other ideas. A cruel voice slinked up from her subconscious.

"You aren't good enough…" it sang. "You will _never_ be good enough. He is rich, intelligent, and handsome. You are just entertainment until something better comes along!" She tried to ignore the voice of her insecurities. When she opened her mouth, however, her throat closed up. Then her eyes started to fill with tears. What was wrong with her? Why was she crying? She had never let that voice get to her this much since the time before the Heir Apparent accident. She had realized that she could do anything with the right help, including save her own life. The accident had helped to silence most of her insecurities back then. But here she was, not even three years later, barely holding it together. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat but it refused to budge. She squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to contain and conceal the tears in her eyes. Tears still began to slide down her as she fought not to break down in front of her boyfriend. Her lungs shuddered and constricted in her chest as if to remind her that she required air to live. As soon as she opened her mouth to draw in some air, a sob wrenched itself from her throat. The sob had come out sounding like a desperate wail.

Nigel had jumped at the sound. He had heard her cry many times over the years, but he had never heard this broken-hearted wailing. He quickly changed their positions. He was now holding Giannine's head against his chest and was she resting in his lap. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, and he was stroking her hair with the other hand. He could feel her warm, wet tears start to soak through his robes. His heart was breaking for his love, but he did not know what he could do to help.

"Love, please tell me what's wrong. I hate seeing you like this… oh, come on, Giannine!" he pleaded softly as he was close to tears himself. Then he thought he heard his girlfriend mutter something incoherent into his robes. "What was that love? I can't hear you."

"I'm… not worthy… useless… trouble… liar…" she slurred between sobs. This only confused Nigel more. Why on earth would Giannine would think that she was not worthy of being with him? In his mind, even after that enlightening discussion the couple had during their last session, the situation was the other way around. He did not think he was worthy of her!

"Why would you say that?" asked Nigel as he continued to pet and comfort his girlfriend.

" 'cause, it true…" she whined as a new round of sobs started. Nigel sighed and decided to wait out her tears. She would be able to give him more coherent answers. After a few moments, Giannine's sobs had decreased to sniffles. Nigel's arms were getting tired, but he did not stop his efforts to comfort her.

"Now, what are you talking about, Giannine?" he asked again. She sniffed softly and muttered,

"When you go public, everybody will want to know everything about your life. That includes who you are dating. Neither of my parents thought I was worth their time, hence me being left with my grandma! How is that going look? Then there was that whole leaked game mess… you nearly lost your company! That was partially my fault! Then the whole "Heir Accident" caused a get deal of mess for you, too. I just cause too much trouble." By the time she had finished her mini-rant her voice had reached a hysterical pitch. Nigel just shushed her again and waited for her pull herself back together again. Nigel kept quiet for a few more moments, collecting his thoughts. Then he took a deep breath and spoke,

"Remember what you told me when we took that walk, after Dale nearly killed us both?" he looked into her tear-stained eyes as she shook her head slowly, "You said, 'We do complement each other nicely, don't we?' You explained that our strengths make up for the weaknesses in each other. So what if you happen to be the top poster child for Murphy's Law? I have enough knowledge in this head of mine to get you out of trouble. And if I can't do it alone, there are plenty of people who owe me a favor or two." Giannine nodded slowly as she wiped at her wet face. "As for everyone else, well… they can go screw themselves! I am not going to dump you because they are suffering from social class constipation!" Giannine was pleasantly shocked by Nigel's vehement defense of her. Nigel hardly ever used harsh words when he spoke, unless he was very emotional. The first time she had heard Nigel swear had been when he was describing how messed up his life with Dale was. She smiled softly. She had been acting rather silly… stupid hormones! She knew better than to think that Nigel would just bow down to people's whims. His life reflected his resistance to that stance. His family wanted another Dale, he started his own company and turned into a fortune. CPOC (Citizens to Protect Our Children) wanted him to shut down his company and leave. Nigel basically told them to get stuffed and took a good chunk of their money while he was at it. As she thought about the CPOC incident, she started to laugh. Nigel just grinned in response.

"T-thanks for cheering me up, Nigel, I am not laughing at you, though." She admitted after he raised one of his eyebrows in a questioning manner. " I was just thinking about that CPOC case." Nigel snorted.

"That was cake, Giannine, don't worry about it!" said Nigel. She chuckled, it sure was. Giannine had heard her grandma often say,

"You can't have your cake and it, too." Nigel had his own version of this adage,

"You can have your cake and eat it, too. Just eat theirs." She had seen that in person.

"I know that! I still find the situation ironic, though." said Giannine as she pulled a handkerchief from the bosom of the dress she was wearing and cleaned her face off with it. She heard Nigel chuckle softly and agree. She could almost see the courtroom the case had been held in as if she was still sitting in it. The whole incident had started when she had received a gift certificate to one of Nigel's gaming centers for her birthday when she was fourteen. She had ignored the warning from the automated bus that there had been danger at the Rasmussem Gaming Center and went back after the bus had dropped her off at a museum a few blocks away. The danger had taken the form of a CPOC demonstration in front of the doors. She had edged around the demonstrators and was let in by the guard that had been at the door. She had chosen to play the "Heir Apparent" game. During her allotted time, some crazed CPOC members broke in and began damaging the equipment. They had caused about $500,000 worth of damage to the gaming center and lost the center months worth of revenue. They unintentionally trapped Giannine in the game and nearly killed her.

But she had managed to win the game and make it out alive. When she finally came back to her senses, she found that she had been resting in Nigel's lap in a position similar to the one she was in now. After their awkward first exchange, she had left with her father. She had been taken to a nearby hospital and declared very healthy for someone that had almost died. The next few days after that were a blur for her. About a week after the incident, she received a phone call from Nigel himself. He had called her to ask if she would testify at a court hearing. She agreed and long story short, Nigel's lawyers tore CPOC apart. Not only did Nigel get damages money from the organization, he also got money for Giannine's near death ordeal (part of that money was collecting interest in a bank and would be used for college tuition), he also got money back for the customers that lost their money in games they did not get to finish, and he got money for the revenue he lost in the aftermath of the incident. Then he pressed criminal charges against the members that actually broke the machines and threatened the safety of his customers, some of them were still in jail. CPOC was devastated by the court hearings. Their finances were in the red due to the massive bill they were given by the court. Then some of their members, including a few prominent members, went to jail for reckless endangerment involving minors and in Giannine's case, attempted involuntary manslaughter. This forever destroyed the image that CPOC was trying to present, that they were protectors of children and their innocence. Most people nowadays call them a joke at best, or compare them to PETA at worst. They never protested the Rasmussem Company again.

As a rebuttal, Nigel entered into an agreement to work with Disney and Square Enix to produce a total immersion version of Kingdom Hearts and a partial immersion version of Winnie the Pooh, for the smaller kids. (AN: Kingdom Hearts was released initially in 2002. It was a pretty big deal back then, which is why I used it.) She was particularly excited about these projects, because she helped work on them. Sure, she helped with the simpler processes and gave the thumbs up or the thumbs down on ideas for the more complex stuff, but she helped! It was going to be a big deal next week. People were already talking about it and given that next week was the start of Disney World's Spring Break season, this was going to put Rasmussem Gaming in a bracket of its own! The games were going to be debuted at the 2005 Spring Game Break Expo in Florida at Disney Quest. With Kingdom Hearts 2 set to drop in Japan in December and in North America in March, this was a perfect time to debut the game while interest was high. A copy of both games will also be place in the Rochester Center and the Japanese gaming center next month. If the reviews are good after a trial period of a month, the games will be launched at other select centers nationwide.

Another announcement that will garner huge attention is that, after 2+ years of work, Heir Expectant will be coming out soon. The tentative date was set for December 21st of this year, if they could get rid of Dale and his bug in time. After the "Heir Accident", Heir Apparent gained a huge cult following: fanfiction, fan-art, and fan made apparel started appearing at conventions and online as more and more people became fascinated with the game. At first, no one, including Nigel, knew what to do with the new fandom, until Hot Topic contacted them a year after the "Heir Accident" to ask about merchandizing the game and Giannine's story. Then Nigel realized that Heir Expectant, which had been a side hobby at first, needed to be completed pronto. He decided to feed people's curiosity about Giannine's story and have a more concise story to work with by placing Giannine's character in the sequel.

So he changed his plan from just bringing Giannine into the lab to test the newer game mode that he just finished buffering, to having her test it and do a character study, so that he could design her in-game character. Then he got a better idea, he used the new open ended technology that he created for the "living section" of the game to allow Giannine to do the character study in real game time and just linked the sequences to the game world. By doing the character study this way he did not have to transfer Giannine's voice and actions to the game separately, which saved him a lot of time and effort; and also allowed them to continue testing the newer feature. He also gathered some of the people that played major roles in the first game and got them to reprise their roles using his real game time method. Nigel also reprised his role as Prince Kenric in some of the major scenes. Then he used the same subject oriented character studies to teach the computers how to respond to different scenarios just like or almost like the actors would.

They also had excerpts of their game play recorded by in game cameras, edited, and buffered in real world, so they could serve as ads for the game and company. They also created a 30 minute mini-story about what happened to Giannine during the CPOC incident in the real world and what Queen Janine did in St Jehan during Giannine's game winning run. The short film and Nigel himself would also be debuted at the Expo as part of the Heir Expectant announcement. Giannine wished that she could be there to support Nigel as he went public, but she just did not have the means. She sighed again.

"Are you still dwelling on what we talked about earlier?" asked Nigel. She shook her head and laid it on his shoulder.

"No, I was just wishing that I could be with you next week for your first public appearance and the game announcements! But—" she broke off and sighed. She reached up and began to finger a lock of his dark hair that had fallen loose from the messy ponytail he had it in. He had grown his hair out some time last year, mostly for his game parts but he decided to leave it that way because looked less like his sinister sibling and because Giannine thought it looked awesome on him. She had tried to convince him to get an earring, but so far she was not having any luck. She slowly stopped as she noticed a sly twinkle in her boyfriend's eyes. "What?" she asked, cocking her head to the side to study him.

"Speaking of that, I have a surprise for you." He said as a smile slowly made its way onto his face. Giannine grinned and said,

"Really? Tell me! If this is coming from you than it has to be big!" Nigel chuckled at his love's enthusiasm. He hugged her briefly and said,

"Patience, little one; I am getting there. There are three parts to your surprise. Now, for the first part of your surprise, you will have to do a little work…" Giannine frowned cutely at Nigel's cryptic statement.

"What kind of work?" she asked hesitantly.

"On next Friday, you will do the immersion games'/Heir Expectant pre-launch interview with me, but you get to be in the parks and in the same room with me for the whole week." He explained. To Giannine it sounded like the last half of his explanation carried a promise with it. She could not help next words that slipped from her lips; her brain had shut down when she saw the hungry look in his eyes.

"Promises, promises…" she practically purred. He smirked at her and said smugly,

"That I intend to keep…" Giannine sat up quickly and flushed a bright shade of red. Heat began to rush from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, while electricity danced up and down her spine. Her body shuddered in anticipation. She finally jumped to her feet and moved away from him as she started to pace to calm her nerves.

"You were—saying that there were three parts to my surprise?" she asked in slightly squeaky tone due to her rattle nerves and screaming hormones. Nigel slowly stood up and stepped over to the pacing monarch and wrapped his arms around her from behind and stilled her movements. Giannine leaned into his body as she continued watch the fluffy and mundane clouds roll by to help re-focus her mind.

"The second part of your surprise will be found at the Disney parks, but you have to play a game to get it—" he started to explain, but a groan from Giannine cut him off. Nigel snorted and playfully chastised her saying, "If you interrupt me again, I will not tell you anything else." Giannine wanted to cross her arms and pout, but because Nigel was practically draped over her shoulders like a cape, she could not, so she sighed and muttered a "get on with it!" Nigel smirked into her neck, loving the fact that he was getting under his love's skin for a change.

"The final part of your surprise, is here in St. Jehan. It will help you to get to your first two surprises. But first you and I have a quest to complete." He admitted. She turned around completely this time.

"What kind of quest? You know I do not do well with quests!" she said sarcasm dripping from her lips. Nigel winced at her vitriolic tone and hastened to explain himself.

"Do you remember the day that Dale attacked us in the game?" Giannine nodded. He continued, "You gave me a message from the castle, right?" She nodded again. "Well, we have been asked to retrieve a rare jewel from a well guarded cave." explained Nigel. Giannine's eyes narrowed. "This jewel is supposed to be a magic enhancer."

"And we care because…?" said Giannine with a sarcastic bite to her voice. Nigel narrowed his eyes a bit. She was being argumentative today. Maybe it was the hormones or maybe she was just worried and keyed up. He relaxed and sighed.

"What would happen if Dale got his hands on that jewel in the game?" asked Nigel. Giannine's posture relaxed as she began to think. Then she gasped slightly and paled slightly.

"Dale could kill us without even trying…" she breathed fearfully. Nigel nodded. He reached out and gripped her shoulder in reassurance. "How long would this quest take and what about the kingdom? Who would run it?" Nigel grinned at her concern and her gaming skill. She had not forgotten that she had a kingdom to take care of as well.

"I asked Wulfgar to return home for a few weeks and watch the kingdom for you and I. He agreed. This quest may take a few days." He said honestly. She nodded her head.

"Who asked us to retrieve the jewel?" asked the Queen as she continued cloud watching.

"I did." Nigel responded glibly. Once again, Giannine turned around to face her boyfriend and gave him an incredulous stare. Nigel laughed.

"After Dale tried to kill me the first time, I wised up and created a spying program. This program scans for any unauthorized gamers and alerts me in the game. It tells me that there is an intruder and what he or she maybe looking for or doing." He explained. She nodded.

"So, we are going to stop him from gaining another advantage in the game?" she asked. He nodded and Giannine sighed. "I guess I have to go, then. How far away is this jewel? Is it well guarded?"

"It is located in a well guarded cave about half a day's ride from here." He said honestly.

"Well, we better get started, then." Said Giannine as she took her boyfriend by the hand and led him towards castle…

**Ok, I know I threw a lot of info at you in this chapter, but this sets the stage for everything else that will happen from here on out. Thanks for reading and I apologize for the delay and pray that the updates will become more frequent. Review please!**


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